Osun Contract Review Committee Recommends Sanctions On Two Agencies, Gives Reason

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The Committee on Contracts Review in Osun State has recommended the immediate suspension of Dr. Niyi Oginni the Executive Secretary of Osun Health Insurance Agency popularly known as OHIS and Dr. Adebukola Olujide the Acting Career Head of the Primary Health Care Development Board in the State. The Committee also directed the Public Procurement Agency (popularly known as Due Process Office) to immediately kick-off the process to recover to the State’s treasury all outstanding tender fees on contract awards, JVAs, MOU etc, to which the State Government is a party, in the last four (4) years.

The directive was issued by the Committee’s Chairman, Hon. Niyi Owolade, consequent upon the deliberations and resolutions of the Committee members. According to a statement signed by the Secretary to the Committee, Barrister Hashim Abioye, the directive followed revelations that a large chunk of fees accrued to the state government as tender fees for contracts awarded for infrastructures and supplies under the past administration was not paid to the treasury, noting that the illegitimate practice had resulted in loss of hundreds of millions of naira in revenue for Osun state on yearly basis.

The Committee bemoaned the rate at which contracts were awarded by the last administration by way of shady bidding as against competitive, open and other legitimate bidding processes, saying this paved way for contractors to cheat due process by not paying the necessary tender fees to the state government as appropriate.

“The Committee during its sittings received ample proof as to non-payment of tender fees for contract awards which resulted in loss of revenue running into hundreds of millions of naira on a yearly basis to the detriment of the State’s finance,” the statement noted.

“The Committee expressed shock when some Agencies of Government only rushed to pay tender fees of contracts already awarded in the past only after the Committee set up by the new administration in the State took them up on that. Examples abound in the Osun Health Insurance Agency where the Executive Secretary only rushed to pay the tender fees for the OHIS headquarters building contract two days after interrogation by the Committee when the contract is already reaching an advanced stage. It is even disheartening that as against the actual sum collected from each of three (3) contractors as tender fee for the contract which was not at all paid into the State’s treasury, Dr. Oginni only rushed to pay the sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand naira each to the State purse two days after the Committee interrogated him.

The Committee condemned the unethical practices of the respective career heads of the OSHIA and the Primary Health Care Board as distasteful of Heads of Government Agencies given the rate at which contract awards were carried out without due process, non-remittance of actual tender fee collected from contractors to the State’s treasury, contracts without value for money like the PHCs, deliberate split awards of contracts resulting in outrageous inflation in contract sums, awards to cronies, blood relations, and many other anomalies.

“It is on record from the Committee’s findings that the OHIS Career Head gave contracts to the tune of several millions of Naira to his own biological daughter and his own private Hospital in the Agency he is heading, while the Acting Career Head in the Primary Health Care lied on oath when she falsely denied knowledge of all contracts of infrastructures and supplies in the PHCs, resorting to bulk-passing and blame trading,” the statement noted.

“However, pending the final conclusion of the Committee’s sittings, it is expedient that all outstanding tender fees for supplies and infrastructures contracts in all Agencies of Government, which are in hundreds of millions of naira be immediately pursued and paid into the State’s purse without further delay.

“It is equally expedient that the respective Career Heads of OSHIA and the PHCDB be immediately suspended so as not to further put the health of Osun workers and citizens in avoidable risks due to incompetence and corruption”, the statement concluded.