The Osun State government, under former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, violated laws in the award of contracts worth N82.258 million for the production of question papers and answer booklets, Dataphyte investigations have shown.
Osun State is located in South-West Nigeria and is home to over 3.4 million people, according to the most recent National population census data.
De-waleyf Integrated Company
Details from the Open Contracting Data Standard portal show that in June 2021, the state government awarded a contract to De-waleyf Integrated Company for the production of 260,000 answer booklets. The contract was awarded on June 30, 2021.
Between June and August 2021, the organisation got contracts worth N29.501 million for the printing of question papers and answer booklets.
Which organisation is De-Waleyf?
Details of the organisation that got the contract for four question papers and answer booklets between June and August 2021 raised questions on the contract award processes.
Checks on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) show that De-waleyf was registered with the CAC on June 8, 2021. However, 22 days after this registration, the company was awarded a N5.2 million worth of contract for the production of answer booklets.
On July 9, 2021, the organisation was awarded another contract worth N10.353 million for the production of assorted question papers.
On August 27 of the same year, the organisation also got two contracts worth N6.974 million each from the state government for the printing of optical reader answer sheets as well as for assorted question and essay papers.
Further checks show that De-Waleyf listed its legal address on the CAC as 82 Alekuwodo Street, Osogbo, Osun State. Checks on Google Earth and investigations, however, show that the organisation does not exist at the listed address.
82, Alekuwodo street, where De-waleyf Integrated Company listed as its legal address
Dataphyte reached out to different organisations occupying the address to understand if at any point De-waleyf Integrated Company was a tenant in the building.
Occupants of number 82, Alekuwodo Street, who spoke with Dataphyte, denied knowledge of any such organisation.
Although there is an organisation involved in large printing business at the stated address, it is known as “Chapter One Prints” and not De-waleyf. The owner of “Chapter One Prints” told Dataphyte that he was unaware of any organisation called “De-Waleyf.”
Social media analysis shows that De-waleyf does not have a website or any presence on the platform.
As De-waleyf lacks an online presence or any traceable contact, Dataphyte sent a mail to the official email address of the organisation registered with the CAC seeking reactions to the findings.
However, no reply was received as of the time of publishing this report.
Monakins Bosdoy Multiglobal
Another organisation that got six contracts worth N35.433 million is Monakins Bosdoy Multiglobal.
The organisation was registered on June 4, 2021, just four days before De-waleyf was registered, according to details on the CAC website.
However, the company was awarded these contracts between June 30 and August 27, 2021.
The contract awards ranged from printing of optical reader answer sheets, assorted questions and essays, to graph sheets and answer booklets.
Checks show that the organisation listed CB 47 Lejoka Abiola Avenue, Ilesha, Osun State, as its legal address. But analysis of the location on Google Earth shows that the organisation does not exist at the listed address.
The legal address of Monakins Bosdoy Multiglobal awarded printing contracts by the Osun state government
Dataphyte further analysed over 100 buildings on Lekoja Avenue using data from Google Earth, but none was occupied by Monakins Bosdoy Multiglobal.
A data analysis also shows that Monakins Bosdoy Multiglobal does not have a website or any traceable social media page.
As Monakins Bosdoy Multiglobal lacks an online presence or traceable contact, Dataphyte sent a mail to the official email of the organisation registered with the CAC seeking reactions to the findings.
However, no reply was received as of the time of publishing this report.
Non-existent Gokson Printers, Kollington Nitho Printers
Two organisations that got contracts for the printing of assorted question papers and essays worth N17.327 million are nonexistent, according to Dataphyte findings.
Gokson printers and Kollington Nitho Printers are non-existent as corporate organisations, checks on the CAC website revealed.
Selective tendering for printing of question papers?
The state government deployed selective tendering for the bids that produced contracts for the organisations named above. In selective or restrictive tendering, “only suppliers that have been invited by the buyer can tender for the contract,” according to the UK-based Tender Consultants,
Checks on the contracting documents show that, for instance, the bids that De-Waleyf Integrated Company won were selective tendering. De-Waleyf was recorded as the sole bidder and also the sole winner.
The same situation played out in the case of Monakins Bosdoy Multiglobal, where the organisation was the only bidder and the winner of the contracts recorded against its name.
The two non-existent organisations that won contracts were also recorded as the only bidders for the respective contracts they won.
Conditions for selective tendering
The Bureau of Public Procurement provisions in Part V11 of the 2007 Procurement Act states the conditions for which selective tendering can be applied.
One of the listed conditions is, “If the supply of the goods requires a high technological advancement and if the goods and services are only available from a limited number of suppliers and contractors.”
The Act further reads, “If the time and cost required to examine and evaluate a large number of tenders are disproportionate to the value of the goods, works or services, it shall select in a non-discriminatory manner of the number of suppliers or contractors to ensure effective competition.”
It remains unclear why the Osun State government decided to award the contracts instead to non-existent corporate organisations and briefcase companies.
While the world experienced COVID-19 in 2020, Nigeria announced the reopening of schools in October 2020, eight months before the first set of contracts investigated in this report was awarded.
Further checks on the contract award documents show that all of the companies highlighted in this report were awarded contracts and they implemented or ended the contracts the same day.
Laws Flouted by Osun State government
In September 2020, the Osun State government released a particular procedure for procurement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is uncertain if the protocol was in full force as of June 2021 when the contracts were awarded.
However, Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act emphasises that organisations that should win contracts would have legal standing to do so.
The procedure says that a performance security waiver will be granted for contracts below N5 million. But contracts awarded for producing question papers and answers essays were above N5 million, making them ineligible to benefit from performance waivers – based on the protocol published on the website.
Section 30 of the Public Procurement Act places a premium on the address of the bidders. It remains unclear how the state verified the addresses of the bidders in the question paper and answer booklet contracts before awarding them.
While the state government, in its COVID-19 release, noted that it was relaxing the need for a “number of specific contract experiences” before awarding contracts, it did not state explicitly that the provision of Section 16, 6 (a) of the Procurement Act that emphasised technical and professional qualification of companies’ winning contracts was waived.
Dataphyte reached out to the spokesperson for Osun State governor, Olawale Rasheed, seeking comments on the development. Despite asking our reporter to send messages with the promise of a reply to the enquiries, he did not reply to messages seeking comments.
Several text messages sent were not replied. Similarly, calls to him were neither picked nor replied as of press time.
Dataphyte also reached out to the Chief Press Secretary to the former governor of Osun state, Gboyega Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan, seeking clarifications on the findings. He, however, referred our correspondent to the then Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Education, Jamiu Olawumi, The SA on education denied that the Oyetola-led administration awarded contracts in abuse of procurement law.
According to him, all due processes were followed in awarding contracts. When asked why unregistered companies got contracts during his time, he noted that the Bureau of Public Procurement in Osun State was tasked with ensuring due process, noting that the state government ensured that this was being done.
Attempts to reach the Osun State Bureau of Public Procurement to seek comments on this development failed as the phone contacts on the agency’s website were unable to connect after several attempts.
Lawyers knock state government
Dataphyte spoke with lawyers to ascertain the legality of non-existent firms and companies with untraceable addresses winning contracts. A lawyer, Awosusi Kehinde, noted that it was criminal for companies to win contracts without verified addresses. He said that every registered company should have an address, noting that even if an organisation wanted to change its address, it must update such with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Awosusi also stated that it was against the procurement law for non-existent companies to win contracts, saying that the tender board that awarded such agreements ought to be prosecuted for violating contracting laws.
Another lawyer, Ayobami Akinbode, told Dataphyte that it was illegal for unlisted companies to win contracts. She noted that the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) had mandated that companies in the country be legal entities by registering with the CAC.
“This way, they can sue and be sued,” she said.
This, according to her, also empowered them to be awarded contracts. She further noted that the regulatory failures of the Bureau of Public Procurement had allowed fictitious companies to win contracts, albeit illegally. Barrister Ayobami opined that the inability of companies’ addresses to tally with the CAC portal posed a great concern regarding the standard of products that would emanate from the contracts awarded.
She stressed the need for more robust measures to mitigate these developments.