TRIAL OF HOUSE OF REPS SPEAKER, HONOURABLE PATRICIA OLUBUNMI ETTEH

The House of Representatives recently, after an intense deliberation, resolved to constitute a nine-man ad-hoc committee to probe the N628 million contract award for the renovation of the official residences of the Hon Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House.

The Committee had the following as members: Honourable David Onobi Idoko, PDP Chairman; Honourable Rabe Nasir, PDP member; Honourable Nasiru Muhammad, ANPP member; Honourable Sani Saleh Minjibir, ANPP member; Honourable Chinedu Godswill Eluemunoh, PDP member; Honourable Depo Oyedokun S., PDP member; Honourable Yakubu Dogara, PDP member; Hon. H. A. B. Fasinro, AC Member and Hon. Peter Linus Umoh PDP Member.

Yesterday, their report was submitted by the Chairman of the committee, Honourable David Onobi Idoko and below is the report of the submitted report:

Terms of reference

As contained in the Votes & Proceedings of Wednesday, September 5, 2007, the terms of reference of the ad-hoc committee are as follows:

• examine the award of contracts for the upgrading of the official residences of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker; arid

• examine the contracts for the purchase of official and utility vehicles for the Leadership of the House, and to report to the House within two weeks.

Methodology

In view of the need to adequately address its terms of reference, the Committee employed several methods in gathering information and facts in the course of its assignment. Among these are:

• regular meetings of members on a daily basis;

• request and analysis of several documents in respect of the contracts under reference;

• collection of relevant statutes on government contract awards, (bidding, public procurements, guidelines and circulars.)

• visit to the official residences of the Hon. Speaker and Deputy Speaker for physical assessment of the state of the properties.

• oral and documentary evidence were obtained through open hearing from the followings:

a. Leadership of the House:

• Minority Whip

• Deputy Minority Leader

• Minority Leader

• Deputy Chief Whip

• Chief Whip

• House Leader

• Deputy Speaker

• Speaker

b. National Assembly Management:

• Director of Works and Estate

• Director, Legislative Budget and Planning

• Director, Finance and Supply

• Secretary Tenders Board

• Acting Clerk - House of Representatives

• Clerk, National Assembly

Others are: -

c. Corporate Affairs Commission

d. Federal Capital Territory Administration

e. Vietogenuel Nigeria Ltd

f. Lee Development Nig. Ltd

g. Stateco Nig. Ltd (The Committee in its considered opinion ruled that Stateco cannot be represented by counsel)

Summary of facts

On the basis of the documents submitted to the Committee and oral testimonies obtained from witnesses, the facts of the investigated contracts are itemised as follows:

• The contracts for the renovation and furnishing of the official residences of the Hon. Speaker and Deputy Speaker were approved by the body of Principal Officers at a meeting held on the July 12, 2007.

• The contracts for the supply of vehicles to Principal Officers of the House were also approved by the body of Principal Officers at that same meeting.

• The meeting of the body of Principal Officers was summoned through a Notice of Meeting dated July 11, 2007 and was addressed to nine principal officers, Chairman Ad Hoc Committee on Welfare and 7 Senior Management staff of the National Assembly. (see Annexure I & Ill)

• The meeting was scheduled for July 12, 2007 at 1.30 p.m. but it commenced earlier at 12 noon on the same date on the instruction of the Hon. Speaker, Chairman of the body of Principal Officers.

• The meeting was attended by only four Principal Officers (Hon. Speaker, Hon. Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip, and Deputy Majority Leader), Chairman of Welfare Ad-Hoc Committee, and eight Management Staff of the National Assembly)'. (see Annexure III)

• Six Principal Officers were not at the meeting; some of them stated that they did not receive the notice of meeting. The principal officers not at the meeting were the Leader of the House, Deputy Chief Whip, Minority Leader, Minority Whip, Deputy Minority Leader, and Deputy Minority Whip.

The meeting approved award of contracts as follows: -

• Renovation of the Speaker's residence to State Co. Nig. Ltd at the cost of N238,852,279.00 (two hundred and thirty eight million, eight hundred and fifty two thousand, two hundred and seventy nine naira only).

• Renovation of Deputy Speaker's residence to MIS Lee Development Nig. Ltd at the cost of N90,296,225.25 (ninety million, two hundred and ninety six thousand, two hundred and twenty five naira and twenty five kobo only)

• Supply of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser to M/S Kymco Motors Co. Ltd at the cost of N123,000,000 (one hundred and twenty three million naira only), and M/S Bras Ventures Ltd at the total cost of N49,600,000 (forty nine million, six hundred thousand naira only).

• Furnishing of the official residence of the Hon. Speaker to M/S Victogenuel Nig. Ltd at the cost of N 71,895,000 (seventy-one million, eight hundred and ninety-five thousand naira only).

• Furnishing of the official residence of the Hon. Deputy Speaker to M/S Lee Development Nig. Ltd at the cost of N55,200,000 (fifty-five million, two hundred thousand naira only).

• An advance payment in the sum of N53,741,743 (fifty three million seven hundred and forty one thousand, seven hundred and forty three naira only) representing 25 per cent of the total contract sum was paid to Messrs Stateco. Nig. Ltd. in respect of the renovation and furnishing contract for the Hon. Speaker's residence, which was covered by a Fidelity Plc bank guarantee for a value of N181,982,623.20 (one hundred and eighty-one million, nine hundred and eighty two, six hundred and twenty-three naira twenty kobo only).

The committee visited the official residences of Hon. Speaker and Hon. Deputy Speaker where members were conducted round by the Deputy Director Works of the National Assembly and his staff, which included:

• Chief Electrical Engineer,

• Chief Mechanical Engineer.

• Chief Architect,

• Snr Quantity Surveyor; and

• Asst. Chief Building Officer

• The Deputy Director Estate and Works Department confirmed the receipt of the Committee's letter concerning the suspension of work in the two official residences and Members reiterated the Committee's decision that work on the residences should be suspended, pending the outcome of the Committee investigation. It was further directed that the stop order be pasted on the walls of the affected Residences if contractors could not be reached.

• The execution of all the contracts in question remain suspended pending the outcome of this investigation. Findings (Evaluation & Analysis) Review of Relevant Statutes Governing Award and Execution of Contracts

The contracts in question involve the procurement of goods, works and services by the National Assembly, which fall within the ambit of Public Procurement Act, 2007 specifically under Section 15(I)(a), which covers all procurement of goods, works and services carried out by the Federal Government of Nigeria and all procurement entries which include:

• Section I 6(1)(a)-(g) lays down the fundamental principles for procurement. (Annexure 33 attached)

• Section 40(1)-(4) on Restricted Tendering (Annexure 33 attached).

• Code of Conduct for Public Procurement Section 57(2-4)(7-9) (I2 a,b,d) (Annexure 33 attached)

• Offence Relating to Public Procurement, Section S8(1(-S)(9-10(12- (Annexure 33 attached).

Review of all documents relating to the award of the contracts to ascertain Compliance with the Guidelines

The Ad-hoc Committee mandated to investigate the contracts began with two letters dated June 6, 2006 referred to as Annex 19A and 198 signed by one Idris M. Mahdi for Clerk to the National Assembly addressed to the Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Abuja. The letter requested for the "furnishing of official residence of the Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives at Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja" and "Taking over of Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker's Residences at Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja." (See Annexure 19a & 19b).

In response to the said letters referred to above, the Executive Secretary and Chairman FCT Transition Committee Engr M S Alhassan, FNSE, by a letter dated June 15, 2007 addressed to the Senate Leader, National Assembly, Abuja and copied to the Clerk to the National Assembly informing National Assembly Management that the general provisions in the FCT 2007 budget are inadequate and therefore cannot accommodate the cost of furnishing the houses of the officers under consideration. The Executive Secretary further suggested that National Assembly should consider other ways of funding the project. (see Annexure 19c attached).

The Committee having gone through Annexure 16 observed a typographical error on the second page of the document under a sub-heading scope of work "S(i)" Mercedes Benz 5320, which is supposed to mean Mercedes Benz S320. While scrutinising the documents, the Committee also observed as follows:

• That the invitation for tender did not meet the requirement of the relevant provisions of the FGN Financial Regulations. It also noted that a fundamental aspect under "vital information" that stipulates tendering process is based on Federal Government of Nigeria Contracting guidelines (See Annexure 16).

• That Notice of Meeting was properly raised by the Secretary Tenders Board but was not served due to some constraints.

• That the minutes of meeting of the body of principal officers of the House of Representatives held on July 12, 2007 at the office of the Honourable Speaker, National Assembly Complex, Three Arms Zone, Abuja had underlisted persons in attendance:

Present were:

• Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh

• Hon. Babagida Saidu Ngoroje

• Hon. Bethel Amadi

• Hon. Baba Shehu Agaie

• Hon. Wale Adegoke

• Alhaji Nasiru I. Arab

• Mr O. Ogunyomi

• Mr Niyi Ajiboye

• Idris M Mahdi

• Alhaji M. A. Sani-Omolori

• Mr O. Adelami

• Mr C. J. Osman

That the minutes reflected neither "Apology" nor "Absent." Also no explanation was given as to why some members were absent without apology. It was also observed that the meeting commenced one and a half hours earlier than the scheduled time.

The decision reached at the meeting shows that contracts were approved for award as follows:

• Renovation of the official residence of the Honourable Speaker's to M/S Stateco. Nig. Ltd in the total sum of N238,852,192.95;

• Renovation of Honourable Deputy Speaker's Official Residence to M/S

Lee Development Nig. Ltd in the total sum of N90,296,225.25;

• Supply of motor vehicles: (i) 10 Nos. of Toyota land Cruiser by Kymco Motors co. Ltd in the sum of N123,000,000; (ii) 2 No. Mercedes Benz car S.320 (Black) by M/S Bras Ventures Ltd in the total sum ofN49,600,000;

• Furnishing of the Hon. Speaker's Residence to M/S Victogenuel Nig. Ltd in the sum of N71,895,000,00 and

• Furnishing of the official residence of the Hon. Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives to M/S Lee Development Nig Ltd in the sum of N55,200,000

• That four out of six members endorsed the Minutes of the meeting and the remaining two did not sign against their names. (see Annexure 8)

• That Annexure 5 8, were memoranda presented at the meeting as follows:

5.2.2 Memo No.1 - Memorandum for the Renovation of the Official Residence of the Hon. Speaker, Apo Quarters, Abuja (Annex V)

Item No. 6a: Claims that the residence of the Hon. Speaker was last renovated in 1999 is in direct conflict with the submission of the Executive Secretary of the FCDA, who claimed it was last renovated in 2005 as indicated in Annex 37 (N16.7million was spent on roofing works and replacement of wooden doors).

Item No. 6b: Claim that advertisement was placed on the notice board of the National Assembly is in direct contradiction with the oral testimony of the Secretary Tenders Board who said there was no advertisement at all.

Item No. 6c: Claim that analysis and vetting exercises were carried out by professionals in the Estate and Works Department. This is incorrect as only an appraisal was carried out on the various contract sums and based on that a decision was reached. This is an appraisal and not an analysis.

5.2.3 The basis for arriving at the figure of N238,852,192 being the total contract sum for the renovation of the Speaker's house has not been established.

5.2.4 There is no budgetary provision for this expenditure.

5.2.5 Stateco Nig. Ltd Bill of Quantities (BOQ) was vetted by the Estate and Works Department without them having any in-house BOQ or the necessary drawings that will give them a clear picture of the situation.

5.2.6 The BOQ of Stateco. Nig. Ltd is full of lump sum (prime cost and provisional sums) reinforcing the belief that most of the bills were based on assumptions.

5.2.7 The BOQ of Stateco. Nig. Ltd just addressed works concerning the main house, fence and external works.

5.2.8 The format of the BOQs of the renovation of the Speaker's residence is different from each other, proving that they cannot be from the same source. (see BOQ attached to Memo V and Annexure XIII)

5.2.9 Date signed by the Clerk of House of Representatives on the memorandum was dated July 9, 2007.

5.2.10 Memo No.2 - Memorandum for Renovation of Deputy Speaker's Official Residence at Apo Quarters, Ahuja (Annex VI)

Item No.2 The assertion that the house has been occupied since 1999 is inaccurate as the residence was only commissioned March 2006 and nobody has ever lived in the residence (see Annexure XIXb)

Item No.3: Claim that advertisement was placed on the notice board of the National Assembly is in direct contradiction with the oral evidence given by Secretary Tenders Board who said that no adverts were placed.

Item No.4: Claim that analysis and vetting exercises were carried out by professionals by the Estate and Works Department is incorrect as only an appraisal of the contract sum was made not tender analysis at arriving at a decision to award the contract sum of N90,296,225.25 to M/s Lee Development Nig. Ltd. '

5.2.11 The Committee finds that the three companies that bided for the renovation contract of the Deputy Speaker's residence i.e. Lee Development Nig. Ltd., De Crew Limited and CNO Development have common telephone numbers and Lee Development Nig. Ltd and CNO Development share the same office. Also, the Managing Director of CNO Mr Chuks Okonkwo, signed as Secretary of Lee Development in the Contract Agreement. (see Annexure XXXV a - pg. 597)

5.2.12 The Committee noted that only Lee Development Nig. Ltd has a BOQ but they all had Hon. Speaker's minutes to the Clerk to process on their covering letter.

5.2.13 The Committee also noted that the time of completion on the Agreement (Annex XXXV a) is 3 weeks. This is at variance with approved 8 weeks completion period by the Body of Principal officers (Annex III) and the award letter (Annex IV)

5.2.14 The memorandum of the meeting was dated July 9, 2007. All the quotations of the companies were detailed in the memorandum and a recommendation made for the award of the contract for the renovation of the Deputy Speaker's residence to Messrs Lee Development Nig. Ltd for the sum of N90,296,225.25, even though none of the companies' bids were in process until the 11th of July. All the three bids were minuted on July 11, 2007 by Madam Speaker with instructions to the CNA to Process.

5.2.15 Memo No. 3A - Memorandum for the Supply of 10 No. Toyota Land Cruiser VXR 470 EFI Engine, Full Option, Leather Seat, Air Condition, Air Bag, and Refrigerator to the House of Representatives (Annex VII)

Three companies bidded for the contract to supply 10 No. Toyota Land cruiser VXR. They are:-

• Kymco Motors Co. Ltd

• AUSU Nig. Ltd

• NIA Nigeria Ltd

5.2.16. The Committee observed that the memorandum for the meeting was prepared on July 3.

5.2.17. Item 4 in Annex VII states, "after a careful study of the quotations received, it was evident that the one from M/s Kymco Motors Co. Ltd appears most competitive in the unit price of NI2,500,000 only and accordingly recommended for the contract." The quotation from Kymco Motors was dated July 9 2007. The quotation from Ausu Nig. Ltd was dated July 11, 2007. The quotation from NIA Nig. Ltd was dated July 12, 2007. So, how was the bid figures reflected on Annex VII in respect of the purchase of 10 No. Toyota Land Cruisers obtained by July 3, 2007? Evidently there was a prior knowledge of the figures of the bid document before the submission.

5.2.18 Memo No. 3b: Purchase of Official Vehicles for the Presiding Officers of the House of Representatives (Annex VII)

The initial request was for 2 No. Mercedes Benz S320, 2 No. Peugeot 406, 1 No. Toyota Hilux Van, 2 No. Outriders motorcycles and 1 No. Toyota Hiace bus. This is in excess of the four No. cars approved by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission due the Deputy Speaker.

The Committee observed that the body of Principal Officers approved S320 model however there was a change to Mercedes S550 at the same cost. There is no explanation as to how this change came about. (see Annexure XXIII)

5.2.19Memo No.4 - Memorandum for the Furnishing of the Residence of the Deputy Speaker (Annex VIII) 3 companies bided for the furnishing contract of the official residence of the Hon. Speaker, namely:

• M/s Bulktrade &. Investment Co. Ltd and Homelink Holdings presented a detailed breakdown of items and costs of items they are bidding to supply. All the items are for the main house and security post and boys quarters. The letter from Victogenuel Ltd also made reference to such a breakdown of items but the Committee were not provided with it.

The Committee observed that the Speaker was the first person to minute on the letter addressed to the Clerk to the National Assembly) in respect of the' furnishing of the residence of the Hon. Speaker. The letters are from:

• Homelink Holdings Ltd dated June 30, 2007 minuted on by the Hon. Speaker on July 11, 2007;

• Victogenuel Nigeria Ltd dated July 3, 2007 minuted on by the Hon. Speaker on July 11, 2007;

• M/s Bulktrade & Investment Co. Ltd dated July 10, 2007 minuted on by the Hon. Speaker on July 11, 2007.

We also observe that Madam Speaker minuted to the Clerk on the letters of Homelink Holdings Ltd, Victogenuel Ltd and Mis Buldtrade & Investment Co. Ltd on July 11, 2007, but the Memorandum (Annex VIII) was prepared on July 10, thereby raising a question as to how the details of the bids were accessed even before the initiation of the processing of the bids.

5.2.20 Memo No.5 (page 9 in Annex Ill )

The claims in the Memorandum that the last furnishing of the mansion was done at the inception of the last legislature is clearly inaccurate as the house was never furnished or occupied since it was commissioned in March 2006.

We also observe that according to information from Corporate Affairs Commission, D-Crew Limited could not be located in the database of the Commission. This suggests that the company has not been registered.

We also observe that bid documents were directed to some officers if respect of the furnishing of the Deputy Speaker's mansion. The bid documents are from (l) De-Crew Ltd, minuted by the Speaker to the Director of Works on July 13, 2007. (2) CNO Development Ltd, minuted by the Speaker to the Director of Works on July 13, 2007. (3) MP Associates Ltd, minuted by the Speaker to the Clerk to House of Representatives with the following instructions: "Pls process as approved by the body of principal officers and the management of the house," dated July 17, 2007.

Conclusion

Based on the Committee's evaluation, the Committee concluded that due process was not completely followed in the awards of the contracts based on the following:

• The tender was not advertised;

• No in-house Bill of Quantities and drawings (architectural, structural, electrical and mechanical) as such, there was no basis for arriving at the approved contract sums;

• No specific budgetary provision for renovation and furnishing of the official residence of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the 2007 Budget;

• No specific budgetary provision for the purchase of vehicles for principal officers in the 2007 Budget;

• The procedure for the award by the Body of Principal Officers on the July 12, 2007 shows major act of omission and disregard for laid down procedure;

• The memoranda for the award of contracts presented at the Meeting of the Body of Principal Officers of July 12, 2007 were raised before some of the quotations for the jobs were processed;

• Some of the companies that sent quotations were not registered with Corporate Affairs Commission. They therefore lacked capacity to compete for the contracts in question since the law does not recognise them as persons;

• It appears that some principal officers were excluded from the meeting of July 12, 2007 by not serving them notice for the meeting particularly the Minority Leadership;

• The contract sum of N238,852,l52 in respect of the renovation and furnishing of the residence of Speaker was for the main house and not inclusive of cluster of structures in the compound; and

• All quotations relating to the renovation and furnishing contracts directed to the office of the Speaker and those directed to the office of the Clerk to the National Assembly were first acted upon by the Hon. Speaker for the attention of the Clerk to the National Assembly directing him to process.