Audit observed that Payment voucher No. 1279 of 3rd February 2017 was raised in favour of a consultant for N18,085,400.00, as “outstanding indebtedness on consultancy service”. Examination of the payment voucher, together with the supporting documents, revealed the following:
i.Contract documents in respect of the sum of N156,281,000.00, approved to be paid to the company, were not produced for audit examination and as a result, audit could not ascertain how the consultancy fees and the reimbursable were arrived at.
ii.Due process was not followed in the award in line with the provision of Public Procurement Act, 2007, as the process leading to the engagement of the consultant was not known and the transaction did not reveal the type of services rendered by the company.
iii.Contract for the consultancy service was rendered without a contract agreement. iv. Payment documents in respect of previous payments totalling N122,567,500.00, made to the Consultant before the balance payment of N18,085,400.00, were not provided for audit examination.