THE FRAUD ALLEGATION AGAINST AGBASO

For sometime now, the polity of Imo State seems to be heated up again. This time it is with the allegations of financial scam on the state Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso which has also culminated in the current move by the Imo State House of Assembly to impeach the Deputy Governor. It all started with the report of the Imo State House of Assembly Special Ad-Hoc Committee to investigate the remote causes of stoppage/abandonment of work on some roads in Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe municipalities headed by the member Representing Isiala Mbano State Constituency, Hon. Simeon Iwunze.

The committee has submitted its report to the state legislature and the report is summarized as follows: The Imo State Governor had an informal understanding with one JPROS International Nigeria Limited owned by a Lebanese named Mr. Joseph Dina, to start construction work on the Warehouse Orlu Road Junction-Aba Road which traverses Odunze and Amigbo streets and Old Nekede Road in Owerri Municipality. Work commenced accordingly and the Governor promised Mr. Dina that the Imo Government would pay him complete contract sum for the road construction when fund would be provided. In February 2012, the state Ministry of Works re-negotiated downwards the contract sum from the initial One Billion,

Three Hundred and Twelve Million and Six thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy Four Naira (=N=1,312,106,874.00) to One Billion, One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (=N1,150,0000,000.00). The state Ministry of Works headed by the Deputy Governor as the ministry’s commissioner, through a letter written by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, wrote to the Governor seeking the Governor’s approval to award the contract of the construction of said road by JPROS. The Governor approved the said contract and without recourse to Ministry of Works, the state Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General paid 100% of the contract sum directly to JPROS.

It was also discovered that the contractor was even over-paid the contractor sum for work which is yet to go mid-way. Recently, it was noticed that pace of work on the road slowed down and when confronted by the Special Committee of the state House, JPROS alleged that the slow pace of work was because of lack of fund. When queried further, Mr Dina alleged that he gave Sir Agbaso the sum of 458 Million Naira from the contract sum alleging that it was a consideration for Sir Agbaso’s alleged promise to give the company more contracts in future.

As a proof, Dina presented a text message from his mobile line wherein he alleged the Deputy Governor sent to him from the Deputy Governor’s MTN line 08033444421 directing him to pay the above amount into. Dina also claimed that on the receipt of the contract money in February 2012, that he consequently paid the sum of Three Hundred and Twenty Five Million Naira (=N=325,000,000.00) into Guarantee Trust Bank account of Three Brothers Concept Ltd. from JPROS Diamond Bank Account No. 0015810435. He tendered Cheque No. 30794835 which he claimed he did the payment with.

He also claimed to have paid another One Hundred and Thirty Three Million (=N=133,000,000.00) in June 2012 to IHSAN BDC Ltd. bank account No. 105334698 with UBA Plc. drawn from another JPROS’s Diamond Bank Plc account no. 0015810435. Based on the above, the Imo House of Assembly decided to commence impeachment proceedings against the Deputy Governor by serving him with a Notice of Allegation as contained in Section 188(2) of the country’s constitution.

From the above, was it not wrong for the State Ministry of Finance and Accountant General’s (AG) office to fund JPROS when the Ministry of Works only asked for approval of the contract from the Governor? Is this not against the provisions of the Procurement (Due Process) Act which stipulates guidelines for the handling government contracts. Was it not improper for the Ministry of Finance and AG’s Office to have funded the contractor directly without recourse to the supervising ministry, the Ministry of Works that originated the memo for the contract? Was it proper for the Ministry of Finance and A.G’s Office to make 100% payment and even overpaid JPROS on a project that has not been executed up to 50%? Respectfully, I think that if the Ministry of Finance and Accountant-General’s office had sent the contract sum to the Ministry of Works that had the details of the contract the overpayment and unearned sum might have been noticed and probably avoided.

Moreover, there would have been the possibility of observing compliance with due process by ensuring that payments to JPROS were monitored and done based on evaluation of work done on the road. It is my belief that the lack of due process in handling the entire contract opened the room for the company to misappropriate the fund since he had enough money at his disposal. Assuming the contractor had absconded with the entire contract sum, that might have brought a bigger disaster to the Imo State Government. Be that as it may, I am not holding any body’s brief but I must observe that the Simeon Iwunze-Led Committee did a thorough job.

Its recommendations are very apt and commendable. However, the most salient contention now is JPROS’s claim that he gave a bribe of 458 Million Naira to the State Deputy Governor. This is a grave criminal allegation and should be taken seriously. However, the Deputy Governor has completely denied Dina’s allegations against him. Respectfully therefore, I think it is very necessary to investigate and establish the fact that the Deputy Governor actually sent the said text message from the Deputy Governor’s phone number. This can be done by getting MTN to produce the call log of the said phone numbers of Mr. Dina and the Deputy Governor during the period in question.

Also, with the help of the Corporate Affairs Commission, GTB and UBA, it will also be expedient to ascertain whether the Deputy Governor is in any way linked to the said companies the alleged bribe monies were paid into. It might be necessary to also trace the directors/bank account signatories of Three Brothers Concept Ltd. and HSAN BDC Ltd. It should also be ascertained whether the acclaimed amounts were really paid into the said company accounts. Information on transaction(s) in the accounts and the signatories to the accounts within the period under review will also help in this matter.

I believe the above and other possible ways not mentioned herein are the suggested ways to establish the claim of Dina and the culpability or otherwise of the Deputy Governor viz-a-viz the said financial scam. Iwuala writes from Owerri. emperoriwuala@yahoo.com

Source: sun