Senators Fears As Minister Of Petroleum Spent #116 Million Naira to Buy Pen, Paper

Senators fears as minister of petroleum spent ₦116 million to buy pen, paper

Senators reacts as minister of petroleum spent ₦116 million to buy pen, paper

The Federal Auditor General’s Office (AuGF) reports that officials of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources spent N14.5 million on the procurement of schneider biros, N46 million on the printing of the letterhead of the ministry and N56 million on the toner of its photocopying machines.

This was found in the 2015 audit report presented to the Senate Public Accounts Committee by the AuGF on Thursday.

In the survey, a total of N116 million was spent on stationery procurement in one year.

The report is currently under review by the Senate Committee, headed by Senator Edo South Mathew Urhoghide.

“The contract for the supply of Schneider biros worth N14.5m was split into smaller packages of less than N5m each and was awarded to four different companies in order to circumvent the permanent secretary’s approval threshold of N5m,” the AuGF wrote in a query.

“Similarly, the contract for the printing of the ministry’s letterhead worth N46m was also split and awarded to 11 different contractors.

“Also, the contract for the supply of toners worth N56m was split and awarded to seven different contractors. The permanent secretary has been requested to explain this contravention of the Public Procurement Act 2007.”

Responding to the query, Godwin Akubo, representative of the petroleum ministry, said: “The action of the ministry was a quick response to the needs of the various departments in the ministry of petroleum resources.”

“These awards followed normal rules and procedures,” he insisted.

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“The contracts were not split. They were awarded to the various contractors at different times when items were needed.

“The sum of N46.6m used for printing of letterhead followed due process and the large sum of money is explained by the volume of the produced for most of the departments.”

The query was however sustained as the senate committee chairman was discontented with the explanations given by the permanent secretary of the ministry.

He asked the committee secretariat to document the money spent and ask for the refund from the officers involved in the ministry.