Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution Violates Procurement Laws In Spending N321 Million

Secrets Reporters

Procurement records of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, IPCR, have revealed violations amounting to ₦321,247,966.58 across four separate findings during the 2023 financial year.

The IPCR, which provides advice to the Nigerian government on conflict management and resolution, recorded ₦138,947,700.00 in payments for contracts that were only partially executed despite full or substantial payments having been made. The payments contravened the Financial Regulations 2009, which prohibit payment for work that has not been fully executed.

Similarly, ₦66,500,000.00 was paid for constituency and zonal intervention projects that were executed without approval from the relevant authorities. The payments were made without the required authorisation for the projects.

Moreso, ₦64,236,484.66 was incurred on contracts that were split into separate components in a manner that circumvented the applicable procurement and approval thresholds. The practice contravened the Public Procurement Act 2007, which prohibits the splitting of contracts for the purpose of avoiding prescribed approval thresholds.

Additionally, ₦51,563,781.92 was spent on the procurement of ICT facilities without obtaining the mandatory clearance from the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA. The procurement contravened the NITDA Act, which requires the prescribed clearance for government ICT procurement.