Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has denied awarding a contract worth €56,250,000 to an Italian company, describing the reports of the contract as false.
The Commission explained that the said contract did not exist in its records, neither was any of its officials aware of it.
NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Dr. Ibitoye Abosede, in a statement, averred that all the contracts awarded by the Commission follow due process as stipulated in the Public Procurement Act.
Abosede said the reports that the contract was signed on the June 1, 2023 by its Managing Director and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs showed the report was false as the country had no ministers as at June 1 due to the dissolution of the federal executive council by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari before handover on May 29.
He maintained that the said contract letter failed all the Commission’s branding standards, hence has been reported to the law enforcement agencies so as to bring the perpetrators to book.
Part of the statement read: “The attention of the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission has been drawn to a fake contract award letter being circulated online, purporting to originate from the desk of the Managing Director of the Commission. The fake letter purportedly notified an Italian company of an award of a contract for 56,250,000 Euros. The fake letter neither states the purpose of the contract nor the consideration for the award.
“We hereby state unequivocally that the document is fake. The purported contract is also a scam. It does not exist either in the records of the Commission nor is any of our officials aware of it.
“Contract awards in NDDC follow due process stipulated by the Procurement Act. At the end of that process, the successful bidder is issued an award letter signed by the Director of Procurement. That award letter is on a security paper, with a serial number and a QR code. Contract award letters do not come from the desk of the managing director.
“The fake letter dated June 1, 2023, was purportedly signed by the managing director and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. The managing director signed no such letter. In any case, the signature on the fake document is not that of our managing director. Also, Nigeria had no Minister of Niger Delta Affairs by June 1, 2023 as the Federal Executive Council was dissolved before the hand-over of power on May 29, 2023.
“The fake letter failed all the Commission’s branding standards. Our take is that the letter is a product of a cheap scam. It has no relationship whatsoever with the Commission. We hereby advise all stakeholders and interested parties to cross check any purported letter of contract award with the Procurement Department of the Commission. We also warn the public to beware of fraudsters who will stop at nothing to dupe others.”
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