Dauda Lawal, the governor of Zamfara State, claims to have found irregularities in the awarding of contracts for the state's abandoned cargo airport in Gusua.
The Governor claims that the state's most recent government embezzled more than N6 billion in funds as a result of the anomalies.
Sulaiman Bala Idris, Lawal's spokesperson, promised to bring individuals accountable "for the financial recklessness" to justice in a statement on Thursday.
The statement reads, "Upon taking office, Governor Dauda Lawal directed for the assessment and identification of the best approach to timely completion of the project and further reviewed among other things pre-contract activities to determine the progress of work done and the corresponding value to monies paid to contractors.
"Among other things, the committee's report made clear that Avic International Engineering Limited supplied engineering and architectural drawings.
According to the investigation, the contractors created contract bills of quantities without consulting the appropriate government departments that would have reviewed the designs, specifications, and bills.
"In contrast, there were no contract documents available when the contract was awarded.
According to contract notifications No. FGPC/SEC/NOT/2019/055 dated May 15th, 2019, Avic International Engineering Limited was given the contract for the price of N11,551,899,123.00 only.
The committee also discovered that no preliminary clearances from the necessary aviation industry regulatory organizations were acquired prior to the start of project work.
"Only after work had started on the site was a consultant, BJ Aerotronic Limited, hired to take responsibility of the project and gain the necessary clearances from the relevant regulatory organizations.
"Payments were issued to the contractors without valuation and necessary approval from the appropriate governmental agencies.
"As a result, the committee suggests anomalies between the engineering, architectural, and specification plans and the contract Bills of Quantities.
"Total net payments made to the contractors were 30% as an advance payment of the amount of N3,465,569,736.90 by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on June 19, 2020; the amount of N2,310,379,824.60 by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) was once again paid as the second instalment on June 19, 2020, in the name of a loan, (a term not familiar in governments' contract procedures and management'); another payment of N825,000,000.00 by the
These payments totaled N6, 600, 989, 561.50; the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) then received N125,000,000.00 on January 31, 2022, and BJ Aerotronic Limited received N50,000,000.00 on the same date, purportedly as a consulting fee.
Only the advance payment out of all the payments had payment vouchers, however the other payments did have mandates.
"There were no signs that Value Added Tax (VAT), Withholding tax, or other taxes were being deducted in any way.
The abandoned project, whose completion level is under 20%, received a total payment from the administration of previous Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle totaling N6,775,949,561.50.
"In addition, analyses conducted by four distinct independent expert businesses and pertinent government organizations have revealed that the entire value of the work completed is N2,249,636,040.73, or 19.47 percent of the total.
"We have determined that the payments provided to the contractors were drastically out of proportion to the amount of work performed, not just with the degree of work performed.
The project's life span has passed, and the contractor made no attempt or exhibit any intention to apply for a time extension to continue the work, so the committee came to the conclusion that the contractors were no longer interested in carrying out and finishing the project, taking into consideration the fraudulent ways the project was carried out.
The contractors are required to reimburse the Zamfara State government for N4,526,313,520.77 following the completion of all evaluations by the four credible consultants.
"As a responsible government, we'll keep looking into every instance of mismanagement to make sure that what properly belongs to Zamfara is restored for the benefit of its citizens and that anyone responsible for the mismanagement is held accountable.