No contract was awarded to any of the local contractors by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, according to his Senior Special Assistant, Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka.
Olayinka, who made the assertion in a statement yesterday, following a protest at the FCTA secretariat in Garki, Area 11, Abuja, staged by some aggrieved local contractors if they (local contractors), said have documents showing award of contracts by the Minister, they should produce them.
He recalled that in December 2023, a bill of about N10 billion was presented to the Minister as outstanding payment on jobs done by local contractors before he assumed office, which they called ‘Shopping’ or Minor Procurement.
He added that the same December 2023, payment of over N5 billion was approved by the Minister, and this was made immediately.
“In January 2024, another more than N5 billion was paid, clearing the over N10 billion outstanding bills.
“Three months after, another bill of over N15 billion was presented as outstanding payment on this same Minor Procurement. Then, the Minister raised question as to who approved the contracts, because he didn’t award such contracts.
“How can you claim to have carried out jobs worth over N15 billion within three months, without the approval of the Minister? How can you accumulate over N15 billion debt on contracts within three months?
“From N15 billion to N8 billion and now N5 billion, the question is, on whose authority was the contracts awarded? Those are the questions they have to answer first”, the statement read in part.
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