Abuja — Due process "was not completely followed" in the award of contracts for the renovation of Speaker Patricia Olubunmi Etteh and her deputy Babangida Saidu Nguroje's official quarters as well as purchase of vehicles for principal officers, the House of Representatives committee that probed the contracts declared yesterday.

The panel, headed by Mr. David Idoko, listed ten grounds upon which it based its conclusions. They were that the tender was not advertised, no in-house bill of quantities and drawings were prepared, there was no specific budgetary provision for renovation and furnishing of the Speaker and her deputy's official quarters in the 2007 budget, and that the procedure for the contract award by the Body of Principal Officers on July 12, 2007 "shows major acts of omission and disregard for laid down procedure".

Other conclusions reached by the Idoko panel were that the memoranda for the award of the contracts presented at the meeting of the Body of Principal Officers on July 12, this year "were raised before some of the quotations for the jobs were processed", and that some of the companies that sent quotations were not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. "They therefore lacked capacity to compete for the contracts in question since the law does not recognise them as persons", the panel report declared.

The Idoko panel also said some of the House's principal officers, particularly the minority leadership, were excluded from the July 12 meeting that approved the contract by failing to serve them with notices of the meeting. Similarly, it found that the N238 million contract sum in respect of renovating and furnishing the Speaker's residence "was for the main house and not inclusive of the cluster of structures in the compound". This finding apparently contradicts Mrs. Etteh's assertion before the panel that the contract sum included relocating a mosque, building a chapel and renovating other structures such as the guest wing and ADC's house.

According to the Idoko panel, "all quotations relating to the renovation and furnishing contracts directed to the office of the Speaker and those directed to the office of the Clerk to the National Assembly were first acted upon by the Hon Speaker for the attention of the Clerk to the National Assembly, directing him to process".

Other important observations contained in the carefully-worded report include, "Claims that the residence of the Speaker was last renovated in 1999 is in direct conflict with the submission of the Executive Secretary of the FCTA, who claimed it was last renovated in 2005". The panel also said the claim that the tender was advertised on the National Assembly notice board was contradicted by the Secretary of the Tenders Board, who said there was no advertisement at all. Similarly, the panel said "the basis for arriving at the figure of N238.852 million being the total contract sum for the renovation of the Speaker's house has not been established". The panel however made no recommendations for sanctions against either the Speaker or the national Assembly management.

Yesterday's submission of the panel's report was preceded by extraordinary security measures mounted around the National Assembly Complex, with stern-looking mobile policemen guarding the gates and searching all vehicles as they went in. The House leaders had announced on Tuesday that yesterday's session would commence at 10am, instead of the normal 2pm. The gallery in the House chamber was filled to the brim and security men had a hard time controlling the visitors.

Though House members trickled into the chamber from 9am, the Speaker did not enter until 11.29am. She took her seat, said the traditional prayer, then apologised for the delay in commencing proceedings, attributing it to a technical hitch in printing of the order paper. After approving the Votes and Proceedings, Mrs. Etteh called for presentation of the Idoko panel report. There was pin drop silence when Mr. David Idoko moved a motion for the House to accept his commi-ttee's report. Mr. Independence Ogunewe seconded it, and Idoko then proceeded to lay it on the table, with cheers from his colleagues. The House then began to treat orders of the day, but many members began to leave the chamber.

Panel chairman David Idoko later told reporters that they "lacked the mandate to indict anybody". He said he could not comment on the report as it was now before the House, which would debate on it at the appropriate time. The House of Representatives has now adjourned for two weeks. Discussion of the report is expected to come up when it reconvenes next month.