Federal College of Education Yola Under Provost Mohammed Degereji Bleeds ₦1.4 Billion in Contracts Awarded to Unqualified Firms

Secrets Reporters

The Federal College of Education (FCE), Yola, awarded contracts worth ₦1.4 billion to companies that had no technical qualification to bid, according to documents obtained by SecretsReporters.

The contracts were awarded during the 2023 financial year  a period spanning the entire tenure of Dr. Mohammed Usman Degereji, who was appointed Provost of the institution in July 2022 and remains in office today.

A review of the College’s financial records shows that twenty-seven contracts valued at ₦1,425,905,365.98 were awarded for security services, the construction of a Cattle Ranch for the Agric Education Department, and other construction works. The companies that received these contracts failed to present the basic requirements needed to tender for government contracts.

Three years of financial statements, Bureau of Public Procurement IRR certificates, bank references, affidavits, and current ITF, PenCom and NSITF certificates were never submitted for scrutiny. Payments were also made without any of these supporting documents attached to the vouchers.

Section 23(1) of the Public Procurement Act 2007 limits a procuring entity to the qualification criteria set out in its own pre-qualification documents. Paragraph 2909 of the Financial Regulations 2009 requires every bidder to prove technical qualification, equipment and manpower capacity, and legal standing before any award is made.

Further breakdown of the findings shows that ₦1,228,252,885.16 was spent outside the College’s approved budget. Another ₦880,120,283.05 was paid for contracts awarded without due process. A sum of ₦169,667,736.84 was tied to contracts deliberately split to circumvent the procurement approval threshold and tender procedures. ₦55,800,000.00 involved a Hilux van irregularly inserted into an already-approved Bill of Quantities, while ₦49,990,499.00 was tied to the irregular award of a vehicle-related contract and the subversion of due process.

In total, the College recorded ₦4,235,765,088.19 in financial irregularities across twenty-six findings during the 2023 financial year  the largest number of individual findings recorded at any single institution in the document reviewed.

On every finding in this first instalment, the College’s management response is recorded as “No response.”

Paragraph 3117 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which covers irregular award of contracts, applies to the ₦1.43 billion finding. Related provisions on due process, extra-budgetary spending, and contract splitting apply across the remaining findings. In each case, the Provost has been directed to account for the sums to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee and to recover and remit them to the Treasury.