An honorable member of the House of Representatives, representing Apa/Agatu federal constituency, Hon. Godday Samuel Odagboyi has been petitioned before the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission (ICPC) by his constituents over unexecuted projects and unaccountable funds allocated and released to the constituency by the federal government.
The seven pages petition is written to the two Commissions by Hon. Isiaka Audu and Mr. Ademu Haruna who are by birth indigenes and residents of Usha and Ogbaulu communities in Apa/Agatu federal constituency in Benue State.
The duo are seeking the swift intervention of the two commissions to investigate a number of the federal governments projects allocated to the constituency at his watch.
According to the duo, Hon. Godday Samuel’s claim in certain publications that he sponsored the capturing in National budget and also facilitated contracts award and execution of some federal government funded constituency projects in the constituency are not far from mere lies.
The document (petition) viewed by our correspondent further revealed that Godday’s publications are self-praising even as they contain material facts of the National budget allocations for the projects and pictorial representation of the purported projects at different levels of completion and details of the contractors the projects were awarded to.
A tour at seven of the said project sites by the petitioners Hon. Isiaka Audu and Mr. Ademu Haruna exposed that despite the huge funding of those projects, they were far below the quality expected.
A source close to the petitioners who spoke to NewsWay on condition of anonymity list the seven constituency projects to include:
1. Construction of Oshigbudu–Atakpa–Ogbaulu Road in Apa/Agatu federal constituency which contains a budgetary allocation of N40 million, awarded to MINDS & LINES LTD.
2. Electrification of Oshigbudu–Ogbaulu communities in Apa/Agatu federal constituency which contains a budgetary allocation of N30 million and awarded to TWO–4–SEVEN MODERNIZE LTD.
3. Construction of a 0.4 km asphalt road at Otakpa Alifeti in Apa/Agatu federal constituency at the contract sum of N49,995,573.25
4. Construction of primary healthcare centers in Adija, Ukpogo, Ugboju and Ichogologwu all in Apa/Agatu federal constituency, at the sum of N40 million.
5. Construction of a block of two classrooms with office, store, solar power and supply of furnitures (DILOT–68) for both pupils and teachers at LGEA primary school, Ogbaulu ward in Agatu local government, awarded to MINDS & LINES LTD by Universal Basic Education.
6. Provision of 40 computers with Solar Power Energy at Aila community, Agatu local government.
7. All the Skills Acquisitions and Empowerment programmes/projects funded by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in partnership with Hon. Godday Samuel Ogbaboyi from 2019–2022 in Apa/Agatu federal constituency.
The duo as a matter of urgency pray the Commissions swiftly to conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether the provisions of the public procurement Act, Code of Conduct Bureau, ICPC Act, EFCC Act, Money Laundering Prohibition Act and other extant laws and regulations were fully complied with in the award and execution of the said projects.
The Commissions are also expected to investigate and determine if the actual public funds released on each of the projects were properly utilized or embezzled.
The anti graft agencies however acknowledged the receipt of the petition number EFCC/PET/HQR/1234/2022 and vow to jointly investigate into the matter as urgent as possible.
