Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secrets Reporters
Newly harvested data have shown that in 2022, more than two hundred eighty million Naira left the Lagos State treasury through illegal contracts awarded to unqualified companies.
According to data buried within the Lagos State open procurement portal, the State’s Office of Drainage Services & Water Resources and Ministry of Wealth Creation & Employment set outside the laws guiding procurement within the State and the nation at large and awarded contracts to companies that did not meet the stipulated requirements.
SecretsReporters gathered from the portal that in June 2022, the Office of Drainage Services & Water Resources awarded two contracts to two different unqualified companies suspected of being owned by cronies.
In the same vein, this online media discovered that the Ministry of Wealth Creation & Employment surreptitiously awarded a contract to an unqualified company while trashing the proposals of other companies that bid for the contract.
The three contracts, two from the Office of Drainage Services & Water Resources and one from the Ministry of Wealth Creation & Employment, totaled N284,879,325.06.
Findings revealed that in June 2022, the Ministry of Wealth Creation & Employment awarded a contract worth N5,000,000.00 for Equipping the Permanent Secretary’s Office to Sammy Sparkle Nigeria Limited.
Digging into the details of the company that bagged the contract, it was unearthed that it did not have up to three years of taxation before it was awarded. Sammy Sparkle Nigeria Limited was registered on 19 May 2021.
In a similar illegal move, investigations revealed that in June 2022, the Lagos State Office of Drainage Services & Water Resources awarded a contract worth N147,367,451.20 to Takullah Mandate Ventures Nigeria.
Our findings revealed that the contract was meant for the Construction of Akodu/Lord of Elijah Collector Drain, Ayobo Ipaja (Upward Review).
Remarkably, indices show that the company was registered on 27 November 2020, implying that it didn’t have up to three years of taxation before it was awarded the juicy contract.
Further revelations show that the Office of Drainage Services & Water Resources awarded Herald Fms Limited another multi-million Naira contract in June 2022.
The contract, valued at N132,511,873.86, was awarded to Herald Fms Limited for the Lining of Peaceville-Greenville Collector Drain, Badore (Upward Review).
A check on the company’s details revealed that it was registered on 9th April 2020, denoting that it did not have up to three years of taxation before it was awarded the contract.
