From 2019 through 2021, 326 contractors abandoned FG projects, ICPC.
Between 2019 and 2021, a total of 326 Federal Government contractors fully funded abandoned project sites across the country.
This was disclosed by Abbia Udofia, a director at the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission,ICPC, at a regional conference of heads of anti-corruption agencies in Africa held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Udofia revealed that the abandoned projects were part of the 2,000 projects worth over N300 billion tracked by the ICPC under the Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTI).
The revelation was contained in the speech presented by Udofia at this year’s 12th Commonwealth Regional Conference in Kigali.
The contractors were said to have abandoned project sites after initial work despite being fully mobilized, but were forced by the ICPC to return to site and complete the projects.
In the speech seen by THE WHISTLER, Udofia gave examples of some of the infractions committed by government contractors.
He said, “In a Project awarded by UBEC in December 2020, with a completion period of 3 weeks for the construction of a block of classroom in LEA primary school, Tsebarawa Village, in Ajingi L.G.A of Kano State, the project was abandoned but the contractor was paid fully
“During the construction of an ICT centre in Katsina Central Federal Constituency, the contract awarded to Cool Choice Nigeria Ltd at the cost of N49,091,991.14 was actually executed by the sponsor, meanwhile, the contractor has never been to site for the project let alone execute it. The project design was changed from its original form and something of a cubicle was built instead. The value of which has been changed at N17,0035.804.50.”
The estimated value of the projects that contractors were forced to complete or remedy due to substandard construction was put at about N28,868,621,227.55.
As part of its success in initiating this project, the Commission felt rewarded by “Several appreciation letters from communities where contractors were compelled to complete their long abandoned projects.”
Source- The Whistler
