₦312.9 Million in Procurement Failures and Unverified Payments Under Provost Degereji At FCE Yola

Secrets Reporters 

Fresh findings from an ongoing investigation have uncovered ₦312,894,825.22 in procurement failures and payments for goods and services that were never verified as delivered at the Federal College of Education, Yola, throughout the 2023 financial year.

The findings, detailed in the second instalment of a three-part SecretsReporters investigation, place the transactions squarely within the tenure of Dr. Mohammed Usman Degereji, who served as Provost of the College for the entirety of the 2023 financial year covered by the findings and remains in the role today.

According to documents obtained by SecretsReporters, ₦110,322,956.75 was spent on supplies with no evidence of warranty. A further ₦64,308,750.38 was paid for the procurement of ICT facilities without the mandatory clearance of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), a requirement under the NITDA Act for government ICT procurement.

The records also show that ₦35,809,240.21 in payments to a contractor could not be substantiated, while ₦10,900,733.75 was tied to the irregular engagement of a consultant.

In one finding, ₦10,625,000.00 in payments were processed without passing through Internal Audit, a breach of Paragraph 1705 of the Financial Regulations 2009. Another ₦6,000,644.13 involved the irregular engagement of contract staff.

The investigation further found that ₦5,779,600.00 was paid for contracts that were never executed, while ₦5,600,000.00 in payments carried no relevant supporting documents. An additional ₦5,179,900.00 was paid with no evidence of performance.

Smaller but equally troubling entries include ₦1,368,000.00 covering irregular payments for annual subscriptions, fees and other related charges, and ₦1,200,000.00 described as an unjustified payment for a provisional sum.

The Financial Regulations 2009 prohibit payment for goods and services not delivered or executed, and require full supporting documentation on every payment. Those provisions apply across the findings in this instalment, just as the NITDA Act’s clearance requirement applies to the ₦64.31 million ICT procurement.

Part 1 of the investigation previously detailed ₦3.76 billion in contract-award irregularities at the College during 2023. Part 3, the concluding report in the series, will cover cash advances, staff allowances, foreign travel and tax remittance failures at the College.