Greedy Thief: How Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s Senior Economist, Sombiri Frank-Chukkas, Pocketed Over N500 Million Through Contract Racketeering

Secret Reporters

As juicy as the thought of working in an agency like the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is in the mind of Nigerians, many will be surprised that someone who is already a staff of such an agency abuse such an opportunity and is involved in practices that go against the conduct of public officers in such an agency and the country at large.

This is synonymous with Sombiri Frank-Chukkas, who happens to be a Senior Economist at NUPRC. Sombiri Frank-Chukkas, who has been working with the agency since 2018 till present, was involved in contract racketeering to the sum of N545,793,058.72, thereby violating Section 6(B) of the Code Of Conduct Bureau And Tribunal Act.

The Act states that except where he is not employed on a full-time basis, engages or participates in the management or running of any private business, profession, or trade, but nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming or participating in the management or running of any farm.

Pursuing the Delta State Procurement Portal, SecretReporters discovered that Sombiri Frank-Chukkas, who is on active duty with NUPRC, is part of key management personnel of a company, which was used to receive a contract worth N545,793,058.72 from Delta state government, through the Ministry of Higher Education.

According to the procurement portal, the Ministry of Higher Education awarded the contract for the completion of the lecture theatre at the Faculty of Environmental Science at Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba Delta State, to Leisure Castle Ltd on 20th August 2021. The contract status shows active.

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Findings by SecretReporters revealed that the company, Leisure Castle Ltd, has five key management personnel, among whom is Sombiri Frank-Chukkas, who happens to be a Senior Economist at NUPRC.