By Khalifa Musa Muhammad
Any person who contravenes any provision of this Act commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not less than 5 calendar years – Section 58 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.
Public procurement entails the acquisition of goods, construction or services by a procuring entity. It spans through needs assessment, award of contract, contract management and disposal of assets. The essence is to derive value for money and improve efficiency in the use of scarce resources. Maximizing the use of resources is important especially for developing countries.
Around 1999-2000 the World Bank carried out a Country Procurement Assessment Review (CPAR). The CPAR report revealed that 60 kobo was lost to sharp practices out of every 1 naira spent by government. So for every one thousand spent we were losing six hundred naira. This forced the government to set up a Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU). To institutionalize the BMPIU, the Public Procurement Act (PPA) was signed into Law on 4 June 2007. This Act looks to ensure probity, accountability, transparency value for money and eliminate corrupt practices.
There is currently an allegation of project diversion making rounds in Kaduna South Local Government in Kaduna State. The title of the project is “Construction of Roads and Drainages in Sabon Gari, Kaduna South Federal Constituency, Kaduna State” and its Budget Code is ERGP22583639 for the year 2020. The cost of the project is sixty million naira. The good people of Sabon Gari area in Kaduna South are in dire need of this project and have been looking forward to the commencement of the work. So optimistic were they that upon seeing the signboard of the project reading Sabon Gari and placed in another area entirely different they were heartbroken. They asked questions and the answers they got were that it was a mistake. Not until further facts were revealed.
The Ministerial Tenders Board of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing at its 11th 2020 meeting held on Monday, 15th March 2021 had awarded the contract for the construction of roads and drainages in Sabon Gari area of Kaduna South Federal Constituency in Kaduna State. The facilitator of the project is the member representing Kaduna South Federal Constituency Hon Mukhtar Ahmed Monrovia.
Considering a huge political figure is involved, this has added a whole new complexion to the game. Abubakar Ahmad, a dedicated and reputable youth of unquestionable integrity in Sabon Gari area of Kaduna South, released the letter of award of contract of the project and the lackeys of the honorable member exploded. Abubakar Ahmad was only asking why the project was diverted and nothing more. With fire and brimstones they incessantly defended the diversion – blindly of course.
They even went a step further to say Abubakar Ahmad and his allies (Zailani AJ Musa and Musbahu Mukhtar Ashu) should have contacted the honourable privately. The project is meant for the good people of Sabon Gari area in Kaduna South. It is a public work that is to be delivered using public funds and the facilitator is supposed to be a servant of the public. So why should he be contacted privately?
Section 18 of the PPA 2007 talks about procurement planning stating clearly that there must be needs assessment and identification of works required. While section 19 of the PPA 2007 talks about procurement implementation highlighting the need for bidding and how to go about it. By executing the project in a totally different area flagrantly flouts sections 18 and 19 of the PPA 2007 until proven otherwise. The PPA 2007 looks to put in place a system that will ensure that rules are followed. How sure are we that the new sham project is worth sixty million naira?
Another angle is that the diversion of the project has resulted in fundamental breach of contract. Offer is one of the conditions that make for a valid contract. The offer by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing is to execute the project in Sabon Gari area of Kaduna South Federal Constituency. Executing the project anywhere but there is a breach.
A legislator is expected to represent the interest of his people. A good leader is a servant of the people. When allegations are raised that are capable of denting the image of a politician it is important to clear the air than keep mum. To clear the air Buhari presented his certificate and Barack Obama too brought out his birth certificate. I hope he will go as far as holding his first town hall meeting to clear the air and keep his integrity intact.
It will tell badly on the legislator if he is unaware of the diversion. That will mean that he is poorly representing his people. If he was aware why did he not communicate to the public regarding the diversion? Sadly, the reason why we are not progressing is because we fail to ask questions; we fail to correct our leaders when they err. We blindly follow them thinking they are doing us a favour. We still operate on rex non potest peccare meaning the king can do no wrong – forgetting that humans are fallible.
Facts were released regarding the diversion of the project. I would have expected the camp of the honourable member to either own up to the shortcoming or reply with facts. This project is meant for Sabon Gari area. It will be sad if they lose it as they may never have another opportunity like this. It is not every year that a community gets to have a sixty million naira road project.
This APC administration campaigned on reducing corruption. Communities should benefit from projects captured in the budget. The budget is captured in the appropriation bill which is signed into a law. This bill is the second most important document after the constitution. There should be strict adherence to the appropriation bill as much as possible. In the words of John Locke “where law ends, tyranny begins”. Let’s ensure that the law does not end.
I agree with the legal maxim: probatio vincit praesumptionem which translates as proof overcomes presumption.
