Accountant General of the Federation, Shamsedeen Ogunjimi has alleged that some agencies of government were engaging in misconduct in the processing and awarding of contracts in violation of the Procurement Act.
Speaking when he appeared before the House Committee on Procurement, Ogunjimi said the Procurement Act provides that contract should not be awarded when money is not available to pay for it.
He said some of the contracts were awarded without funds to back them up which had created gaps as it contravened the law, adding however that efforts were ongoing to ensure all contractors who had delivered jobs were paid.
Chairman of the House Committee on Public Procurement, Unyime Idem, tasked the Accountant General to ensure speedy payment of contractors working for the government, while expressing concern over the delay in payment.
He said that the committee received a series of petitions on cases of delayed and none payments for jobs delivered over the past two years, adding that the house had been interfacing with the protesting contractors to ensure calm while efforts were being made to secure payments.
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“The issue of non-payments of contractors funds for the past two to three years now; on a daily basis, as a committee in charge of public procurement, we receive petitions and then protest.
“So we use wisdom to manage them till today, if not, maybe by now, they would have burnt your office but it took the effort of the committee and the leadership of the House to manage the anger and the protest on the side of the contractors.
“So the House asked us to also find out why they delay and in some cases, non-payments for the past two years,” he said.
Idem also requested the accountant general to, in seven days, provide documents to explain alleged infractions in contract award processes in the agency’s budget between 2023 2025.