“The former speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, who was also a part of the project, did not have the necessary experience to carry out the project.
Delta First Media
Fresh facts before Nigeria’s foremost anti-graft agency may instigate fresh probe on the controversial multi-billion naira Oghara Independent Power Project (IPP) in Delta State.
A source in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), confided in The Union Nigeria that new details unveiled irregularities, misappropriation and abuse of office in the Delta State Government, led by former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.
According to the source, “from the Project Director, Felix Abojie, to the Project Consultant, A & A Global Ltd, and the contractor, Davnotch Nig. Ltd, the necessary experience and qualification to carry out the project was lacking.
“The former speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, who was also a part of the project, did not have the necessary experience to carry out the project.
“The bloated bill of quantities was raised to accommodate the huge amount of money that Dr. Uduaghan and his associates planned to allegedly loot from the state. This BOQ was also shown in the documents that were submitted to the state for approval.
“A further display their inexperience and fraudulent intent is shown in aspects of the BOQ, ₦2.65billion for BOQ. It should not have happened as the project was already awarded and paid for by the state and as such a BOQ should not have arisen as it represents an instance where the investor incurs all project expenses.
The source further claimed that, “the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Land Acquisition (₦143million & ₦22.5million) were some of the aspects that the previous administration secured.
“However, the project status report document shows that the value of the project has exceeded the value of the environmental assessment. The EIA on the BOQ has above value but the project status report document has ₦875million as the EIA value and reported as such everywhere else till the abrupt end of the project.
“The project was initially awarded for ₦21billion but reviewed upwards to ₦23billion but as of this moment only about 40% of the project has been completed but a whooping ₦20billion paid to the contractor Rt. Hon Victor Ochei. The question here is what aspects of the project has been paid for and what aspects haven’t, as no document exists where this is clearly distinguished.
“Premium and Consultancy fees of ₦719million was paid in full to Senforce Insurance Brokers for Insurance coverage of the IPP Project (a company owned by Dr Uduaghan’s cousin in the person of Mr Oritsedere Samuel Otubu) and not to a reputable insurance company.
“The acclaimed original project file does not contain any certificate for payment as the different payment authorization documents have been removed to hide fraudulent intent. Also the same file shows a lot of page number mutilation, obviously to cover up for a lot of their atrocities.
“At the end of Dr Uduaghan’s allowed time in office another attempt was made to further allegedly loot the state of ₦2.2billion through a bogus payment request which the project director declined to authorize payment on the grounds that “the value of works completed to date is ₦12,154,393,912.08 and the amount paid Davnotch Nigeria Limited to date is ₦19,507,826,566.00.
“Therefore, the contractor is not due for payment. The recommendation of the consultant A & A Global Engineering ltd for payment of ₦1,891,610,274.96 and another ₦325,427,741.20 to Davnotch Nigeria Limited is not supported by any facts or a justifiable reason. So why was he paid to that tune if the value of work done was not worth that?’ the source claimed.
Efforts by The Union Nigeria to reach out to some of the names mention proved abortive as text messages and calls were ignored.