Sc@ndal: Over N160m Disbursed to One-Month-Old Companies by Power Ministry in May

A detailed review of the ministry's expenditures in May, published on the Open Treasury Portal and replicated on Budgit's Govspend Portal, showed payments of N52 million (52,627,069), N50 million (50,692,422) and N59 million (59,929,183) to three different companies that were less than a month old.

The press found that the ministry paid El-Ril Mega Plus Synergies N52 million for constructing an overhead tank line and installing a transformer in Oyo communities. Corporate Affairs Commission records reveal that the company was registered only on April 23, 2024, just 37 days before the payment was made.

Similarly, the ministry paid BB & M Mega Co-Plus Ltd. a sum of N59.9 million. This transaction, with payment code 1001179611-1, was for "engagement as a consultant for the construction of a 10 MW solar plant in Ibadan". FIJ's checks revealed that BB & M was only 16 days old when it received this payment.

The third company, El&B Mega Nexans Ltd., received about N50 million for the replacement, upgrade and distribution of transformers in some villages in Plateau State. El&B Mega Nexans is the oldest of the companies FIJ found. It was registered 42 days before it received payment from the ministry.

According to the 2007 Procurement Act, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) holds regulatory and oversight powers over all public procurement processes in Nigeria. This means companies interested in bidding for federal government contracts must register with the bureau.

BPP search portal returned no records found for the three companies

It is unclear whether these projects were part of larger allocations for the 2024 fiscal year. the press conducted a further check of the companies on the contractor portal of the Bureau of Public Procurement, but there was "no record found".

With these payments, the ministry violated the Procurement Act, which mandates procuring entities to have a three-year clearance before receiving government contracts, particularly given the technical expertise required for these projects.

Additionally, the ministry may be contravening Section 6 of the Procurement Act, which requires the BPP to "maintain a national database of federal contractors and service providers and to the exclusion of all procuring entities prescribe classifications and categorizations for the companies on the register".