Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secrets Reporters
Data in the possession of SecretsReporters have shown that the sum of one hundred and twenty three million, four hundred and fifty five thousand, four hundred and eighty-two Naira (N123,455,482) illegally left the coffers of the Lagos State treasury in 2022 and 2023 through contracts racketeering.
This online media gathered from the State’s open procurement portal that three contracts, totaling the amount mentioned above, were awarded to companies that didn’t meet the project requirements.
The Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (LSPPA) mandates specific requirements for contractors, including tax clearance certificates for the past three years, Certificate of Incorporation/Registration of Business Name (CAC Incorporation Certificate), Evidence of Filing Annual Returns and Notice of Assessment of Tax.
However, despite these stringent laws put in place by the State government to ensure a proper bidding process, SecretsReporters has uncovered how various high-profile agencies, under the watch of former Head of Services Hakeem Olayinka Muri-Okunola, awarded contracts to unworthy companies.
For instance, on 6th January 2023, the Lagos State Office of the Head of Service awarded TK Adams Catering Services a contract worth N2, 050,000.00 and another N2, 194,000.00, totaling N4,244,000 for the engagement of an event planner on an advocacy programme for 5000 senior advocates (gl 14-17 and gl 10-13, respectively) on “moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.”
A check on the Corporate Affairs Commission’s portal revealed that TK Adams Catering Services is not a registered company. Meanwhile, it is unclear how the company trounced other companies that bided for the contract to emerge the sole executor of the project since it has no record of registration under CAC.
The contract details did not reveal the bidding method used, nor did they disclose the names of other companies that sought the project.
Hakeem Olayinka Muri-Okunola was the Head of Service when the contract was given.
In another similar move, we gathered that the Office of the Special Adviser on Education surreptitiously awarded FB Walsem Global Ventures Limited a contract worth N76,853,759.00.
The contract, awarded in June 2022, was for the Construction of a Gate House and Security Office at Lagos State University of Education (Lasued), Oto Ijanikin Main Campus, and Noforija, Epe Campus Lagos.
Digging into the history of the company that bagged the juicy contract, we gathered that Fb Walsem Global Ventures Limited, registered on 29 November 2021, didn’t have up to three years of taxation before it was gifted the project.
In yet another law-breaking move, the procurement portal has it that in June 2022, the Office of Drainage Services & Water Resources awarded a contract worth N42,357,723.25 for the Construction of Funsho Kinoshi/Jemtok/Canal Avenue Collector Drain, Okota, Oshodi Isolo (Upward Review), to Oroye Construction And Company.
Findings revealed that Oroye Construction And Company was registered on 29 March 2022, clearly indicating that it bagged the juicy contract barely three months after it was floated.
