Procurement Breach: Ebonyi State Government Awards Multimillion Naira Project to Newly Registered Company

Secrets Reporters

The Ebonyi State Government has once again come under scrutiny for flouting its own procurement laws in the award of public contracts. Documents reviewed from the state’s e-procurement portal reveal that a company, Chi-Bless Hub Concepts, which was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission on April 3, 2025, secured a multimillion Naira contract only three months later in July.

The company, with registration number 8385653, was handed a contract worth over forty million Naira for the drilling and installation of hand pump and motorized boreholes in nine communities within Ezza North East constituency.

Section 21 of the Ebonyi State Procurement Law of 2020 clearly stipulates that contractors must have fulfilled all obligations relating to taxes, pensions, and social security contributions, and must not falsify or conceal any information before becoming eligible for government contracts. By law, a firm that has existed for only three months could not have met such requirements, raising serious questions about compliance with due process in Ebonyi.

The project in question, listed under the code ocds-zinqhl-121903-EB/WRE/EP005-NG, was advertised in April 2025 by the Ministry of Water Resources. Three companies submitted bids, including Goldensoul Industries Limited and Oshia Princely Concept Limited, both of which had been incorporated several years earlier. Despite their apparent eligibility, the contract was awarded to the newly formed Chi-Bless Hub Concepts at a final sum of forty million and six Naira, lower than its original tender submission of over forty six million naira.

This contract is only one instance in a pattern that has become increasingly common in Ebonyi. In August, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism revealed that between May and July 2025, the state government awarded seven contracts valued at more than three point six billion naira to companies marked as inactive in the Corporate Affairs Commission’s records. These included Multivisiondokario Mega Limited, HC Carter Ventures Limited, and Wokor Services Company Limited, which received contracts for major road projects in Ishielu, Izzi, and Abakaliki Local Government Areas. Several other constituency borehole projects, similar to the one awarded to Chi-Bless Hub Concepts, were also handed to inactive companies such as Crustal Geotechnical Resources Limited, Perfect Consolidated Systems Technology Limited, Luchy’s Resources Nigeria Limited, and Jamklef Geoconsult Limited.

One of the most controversial among these awards was to HC Carter Ventures Limited, an inactive company that was allocated more than two billion Naira in May for the construction of a five thousand metre concrete rigid pavement road in Izzi. Altogether, the contracts reveal a disturbing trend in which Ebonyi appears to be prioritizing firms that are either inactive or too newly incorporated to have met the stringent requirements laid down in its procurement law.

The implications are serious. Procurement laws are designed to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability in the use of public funds. By sidelining established companies in favor of those with questionable eligibility, the state risks undermining public trust and eroding the integrity of its contracting system. Moreover, the rush to hand multimillion naira contracts to newly registered entities raises suspicions of favoritism, political patronage, and possible collusion between officials and contractors.

As it stands, Chi-Bless Hub Concepts, operating from a residential address at Liberty Layout in Orji, Imo State, is already in charge of executing the borehole projects across Ezza North East. With a contract period running from July 2025 to July 2026, the people of Ebonyi will now watch closely to see if a three month old company can successfully deliver essential water infrastructure worth forty million Naira.

The Ebonyi case highlights a wider Nigerian problem where state governments often disregard procurement regulations in favor of expediency or hidden interests.