While COVID-19 emergency procurement requires expediency, transparency is still paramount. This was, however, not the case for the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, who altered contract figures, removing ₦326 million, following an FOI request.
- The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has tampered with the contract amount on the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO);
- The ministry cut the contract sum by ₦326 million from ₦1.3 billion to ₦1.02 billion
- The move questions transparency in the COVID-19 intervention fund by a government who champions anti-corruption.
The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has tampered with the contract amount on the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO), in what seems to threaten a ₦1.3 billion COVID-19 intervention deal. The ministry surreptitiously deducted the sum difference, 326 million naira following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from Dataphyte.
Prior to this, the data platform observed the then ₦1.3 billion COVID-19 deal had no contractors. The intervention deal was premised on the Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) project. A project that debuted long before the pandemic in 2016 premised on achieving Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals. And at the height of the pandemic became important as water access in rural communities became challenging. This, of course, was an aftermath of government-mandated restriction orders.
However, nobility does not excuse opacity. To that end, Dataphyte through the Interactive Initiative For Social Impact (IISI) issued an FOI request. The document petitioned for details on the contractors for the PEWASH project. Thereafter, in a surprising turn of events, the Ministry changed the details of the COVID-19 contract on the NOCOPO, leaving ₦1.02 billion as the new figure. This happened within a week of IISI issuing the letter, begging the question: was this a coverup or a clerical error? What happened to the ₦326 million?
Delay Tactics on FOI to Tamper with Documents?
Also noteworthy was a request from the ministry on Tuesday to the IISI to extend the FOI period. Given unfolded events, it appears to be a delay tactic, as the extension led to the ministry adjusting the published contract sum.
Notwithstanding its legality (section 6 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011), it does not seem rational. Why would the Ministry need an extension to provide the name(s) of the contractors for an already awarded contract?
FMWR adjusts contract sum on NOCOPO, Still omitting Contractors’ Details
Interestingly, while the ministry adjusted the contract sum from the initial ₦1,346,336,908, it still omitted contractor(s) details. Not revealing key details in the contracting fault is the essence of President Buhari’s open contracting. And experts had since established this as one of the loopholes government parastatals used to perpetuate illegal transactions and engage in corruption.
Implications for the transparent push of government
Erasing earlier uploaded contracts and procurement on NOCOPO compromises the whole ethos of transparency the President Buhari Administration preaches. Not to mention it further negates section 43 of the Public Procurement Act 2007. The section mandates that emergency procurements not only require expediency, but the principles of accountability.
Provide Award Letter, Other Details In COVID-19 Procurement – Experts Tell Ministry
Responding to this, Ms Ifeoma Onyebuchi, the Program Director of Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), acknowledged that while there is no provision for change of NOCOPO details, the Ministry ought to provide more details about the changes.
“The Ministry needs explanations on what has changed, what went wrong, was it in computation or change in the award letter?”
In the same vein, Mr Mansur Mamman, a Specialist at the Bureau of Public Procurement, says the Ministry needs to clarify what has changed.
“It is possible the Ministry adjusted some mistakes in the procurement details because they have access to the portal background. They also need to provide an award letter stating to show transparency and explain every information regarding the COVID-19 intervention fund.”
In the end, the Bureau of Public Procurement mandated all federal MDAs to file in their emergency procurements physically; and not wait till the end of the pandemic, he added.
So far, Dataphyte could not get a comment from the Ministry of Water Resources. The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, did not reply to messages sent to his phone. However, Mr O. N. Ibrahim, Director, Legal Services at the Ministry, told Dataphyte that the spokesperson and the Procurement head cannot speak to the request, but will respond through the Ministry’s FOI response.