Audit observed that Contract for the renovation of Calabar office (external works) was awarded to a contractor at a contract sum of N23,999,909.63 through award letter referenced NSITF/MD/CE/12 of 11th January 2003. Further related documents revealed the following:
a. There was no evidence that Due Process was followed in the contract award as tenders’ documents were not provided for review.
b. There was no detailed breakdown and approval of the provisional sum of N1,322,250.00 in the BOQs and contingency of N5,000,000.00 which was added to the contract value and paid to the contractor.
c. From the payments made to the contractor, the following observations were further made:
i.The initial contract sum was increased by N8,282,893.52, from N23,999,909.63 to N32,282,803.15, but the Fund failed to provide the approval of the additional works claimed and detailed breakdown of the additional works.
ii.From the payment analysis given, advance payment of N7,199,972.88 (30%) was made to the contractor on the 26th February, 2013 without submission of Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) and the advance payment was above the limit allowed by Section 35 ‘1’ ’a’ of the Procurement Act, 2007.
d. The valuation breakdown of how the 2nd to 5th payments on the contract were arrived at (as reflected in the company’s request for payment dated 8th August, 2016), before they were made, were not provided for review, contrary to the provision of Section 35 (2) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 which states that “Once a mobilization fee has been paid to any supplier or contractor, no further payment shall be made to the supplier or contractor without an interim performance certificate issued in accordance with the contract agreement.”