By Secrets Reporters
A federal girls’ college in Bayelsa State is at the centre of a contract scandal in which nearly the entire sum for a classroom block was paid out, yet the project was left unfinished, with no explanation forthcoming from the school’s management.
Documents reviewed by this newspaper show that the contract for the construction of a six-classroom block at Federal Government Girls’ College, Imiringi, was awarded in 2017 at a total cost of ₦33,556,691.70. The contractor was paid ₦32,160,779.27 representing 95 percent of the contract sum before the project was abandoned.
The project falls under the Federal Ministry of Education, which in 2017 was overseen by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu. Public funds for the project were allocated through the ministry in that year’s appropriation, as reflected in a tender advertisement published by the college in July 2017 inviting contractors to bid for works at the institution.
Under the Public Procurement Act and the Financial Regulations of 2009, government agencies are required to ensure that payments to contractors are tied to verified progress and that advance payments are properly secured. The law also mandates that public officers account for how funds appropriated for projects are utilised.
In this case, the regulation was breached: the contractor collected payment far in excess of the work delivered, and the classroom block remains uncompleted years later.
Analysts worry that public money that should have expanded classroom capacity for girls in Bayelsa has instead been sunk into a stalled structure. The funds are now at risk of having been diverted, and the government has effectively wasted scarce education resources on a project that delivers no benefit to students.
The 2017 contract at FGGC Imiringi adds to a growing list of federal education projects where contractors were paid before work was verified, a pattern that auditors have flagged repeatedly, yet accountability remains elusive.
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