Documents Reveal How Okowa’s Administration Awarded Multi-Million Naira Contract To Then PDP Secretary Now Executive Chairman of Ndokwa West Local Government, Nzete Goddey Obi

Secrets Reporters

Documents have exposed the Delta State Government’s complicity in contract-racketeering schemes under the administration of former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in 2020. The administration has been implicated in awarding contracts to cronies and associates of senior government officials, in violation of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

According to Section 19 of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act (ICPC Act 2000), “Any public officer who uses his office or position to gratify or confer any corrupt or unfair advantage upon himself or any relation or associate of the public officer or any other public officer shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for five (5) years without option of fine.”

Similarly, Section 57 of the Code of Conduct for Public Procurement requires all persons involved in procurement, whether public officers, suppliers or contractors, to act with “honesty, accountability, transparency, fairness and equity”. It also mandates declarations of conflict of interest and prohibits participation in procurement processes where such conflicts exist.

Despite these legal provisions, the Delta State Government under the leadership of former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was found to have acted in breach of some of these laws by awarding contracts worth millions of naira to political associates.

In 2020, the Okowa administration, elected under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), awarded a contract for the Increase in the Height of the Fence at Fine Homes Estate, Asaba, valued at N15,000,000, to Onu Eze Global Enterprise on 14 August 2020.

Findings by this media organization revealed that Onu Eze Global Enterprise is owned by Nzete Goddey Obi, who at the time served as the State Secretary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. He is currently the Executive Chairman of Ndokwa West Local Government Area.

Onu-Eze Global Enterprise was incorporated in Kwale, Nigeria with Registration Number 2387611. It was registered on 25 Jan 2016 and its current status is unknown. The company’s registered office address is Obi Nzete’s House, Etua-Etiti Quarters, Utagba-Uno.