For wittingly violating the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007, the House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement is set to recommend the prosecution of the acting Director-General of the Project Development Institute, PRODA Enugu, Fabian Okonkwo to the anti-corruption agencies.
Chairman of the House Committee, Nassir Ahmed, who revealed the position of the committee at an investigative hearing on the crisis rocking the Agency said the acting DG flouted the procurement laws of the Nigerian federation.
He had accused the acting DG of cancellation of a duly approved contract awarded with a certificate of no objection by the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, without recourse to the laws on procurement.
He also accused the acting DG of lack of transparency in the procurement processes and of hiding vital documents requested by the Committee on the cancelled contracts including the minutes of the procurement planning meetings.
Nasir said the House Committee would write to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, on the matter for possible prosecution of the acting DG.
Meanwhile, the Committee had rejected the position of the suspended Board Chairman of the Agency, Daniel Onje, that he is still the substantive Chairman of the board of the agency.
The Board Chairman had told the lawmakers that he remains the Board Chairman of the Agency despite a letter issued to him by the acting DG said to have emanated from the Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation asking him to step aside.
He told the lawmakers that the appointment of a Board Chairman of PRODA is a prerogative of the President and no one can dismiss him from office.
The acting DG in his defence of the alleged breaches of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, however, told the lawmakers that he did selective bidding of the contracts and such can be investigated.
The House Committee had organised a 3-day investigative hearing wherein it is probing alleged procurement deception, staff victimization, and management problems at PRODA, Enugu.
