Politics
I did not award contracts to ghost companies – Babachir Lawal
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal has awarding contracts in the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE) being investigated by the Senate.
Secretary to the Government of Federation Mr. Lawal Babachir
Director Press, office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Bolaji Adebiyi, denied newspaper reports linking Lawal to alleged ‘N1.3 billion Contracts’ and ‘contracts awarded to 20 ghost firms’.
Adebiyi said: “The general public should not be misled into believe that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has the authority or power to award contracts. This, indeed, is not the case. As with all awards of contract in government, the PINE projects under investigation went through what is referred to as due process in public expenditure.
“The contracts were awarded only after the requisite clearances were obtained from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). It is expected that these clearances are obtained only when all conditions precedent to the awards of contracts are met. Apart from the BPP huddle, the Tenders Board of the procuring agencies, in this instance, the OSGF has to approve of the contracts before they are awarded. At no time were these processes compromised in the award of contracts by PINE. It must be emphasized also, that the SGF is not even a member of the Tenders Board,” Lawal said.
He added that he cannot award contracts despite his position in government as he was not even a member of the Tenders Board and that all contracts must pass the acid test of obtaining clearance from the BPP and the scrutiny of the Tenders Board.
“PINE contracts were awarded following strict compliance with public expenditure and procurement processes. It will interest everyone to know too, that all PINE projects were properly and satisfactorily executed. The beneficiaries have continued to express their appreciation to the Federal Government for PINE intervention, that in many cases, has accelerated the return of normalcy to hitherto ravaged communities,” he said.
