ICPC initially invited three senior TETFUND officials but detained only one.
Following PREMIUM TIMES' report detailing the controversial award of a N3.8 billion contract by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is currently holding the agency's Director of Finance and Accounts, Gloria Olotu.
Senior officials at the anti-graft agency told this newspaper that Mrs Olotu, the Director of Human Resources and General Administration at TETFUND, Kolapo Okunola, and the agency's Director of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Joseph Odo, were at the ICPC office on Thursday to answer questions on some of the allegations contained in the report.
But while both Messrs Okunlola and Odo were released and asked to return today (Friday), Mrs Olotu was not released.
She was said to have failed to meet her bail conditions and is being treated as a "suspect in the case," according to our sources at the ICPC.
ICPC spokesperson Ademola Bakare confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday morning.
Backstory
TETFUND, an agency under Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Education (FME), has the responsibility of providing funding support to tertiary institutions in the country.
PREMIUM TIMES on Monday reported a controversial award of a N3.8 billion (N3,812,500,000) contract by TETFund to an educational service provider, Fides Et Ratio Academy.
In violation of laws, TETFund paid a total sum of N2.9 billion in four instalments to the contractor.
PREMIUM TIMES found no evidence of bidding for the contract as demanded by Nigeria's procurement law. TETFund bypassed mandatory requirements to award the contract tagged: 'Capacity Building Certificate Course (Communication, Entrepreneurship, and Productive Skill Development) inclusive of the Train-the-Trainer programme for 502 (five hundred and two) participants'.
The letter of contract award, dated 24 May 2023, was signed by the Director of Human Resources and General Administration, Kolapo Okunlola.
But, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the body statutorily empowered to regulate contract awards for ministries, departments, and government agencies, said "the contract is not found in its database."
The contract award is, therefore, a violation of the Public Procurement Act 2007, which by its section 15(a), applies to "all procurement of goods, works and services carried out by the Federal Government of Nigeria and all procurement entities". The law under section 15(c) only exempts the procurement of particular goods, works, and services involving national defence or national security.
However, on 30 June 2023, the company's account with Fidelity Bank Plc was credited with over N550 million (N550,380,780.23) by the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of TETFund. The transfer is with mandate number CBN/PROJ/224/JUN2023. Over N820 million (N820,223,850) was additionally paid into the account on 12 July 2023.
On 26 July 2023 and 17 November 2023, the sums of N1.5 billion (N1,503,743,850) and N62.68 million (N62,684,036.05) were credited into the account by the CBN on behalf of TETFund, respectively.
There is, however, no substantial evidence that the entire project done so far is commensurate with the vast funds already expended by the agency. Aside from this, some of the tertiary institutions, whose funds were used for the contract allegedly against their consent, have expressed worry over what they described as recklessness and abuse of office by the management of TETFund.
Contractor defends project
Meanwhile, the management of Fides Et Ratio Academy insisted that it has executed the service it was contracted to provide, saying "it did not win a contract but was engaged by TETFund to provide an important service."
At a meeting between PREMIUM TIMES' reporters and the company's management led by its Founder, Paul Chukwuma, the company said it went around the six geopolitical zones of the country to train ICT directors of the various beneficiary institutions for about six days.
Mr Chukwuma, who accused the newspaper of portraying his company as nonexistent and having no functional website, said he decided to meet with the reporters in his office so the world would know that the company is not a ghost. He opened the company's website for the reporters, showing the learning management system built to accommodate the enrollees for the online training for students.
He said: "As you can see, we currently have 1,115,794 students across 204 tertiary institutions in Nigeria already enrolled for the programme, and we have sent notification to 580,679 enrolled."
ICPC invites TETFund officials
On Thursday, the trio of Mrs Olotu, Messrs Okunlola and Odo arrived at the ICPC office in Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and were interrogated until around 6 p.m. when both Messrs Okunlola and Odo were asked to leave but to return the following day, a senior official of the antigraft agency told this newspaper.
The Director of Finance and Accounts, Mrs Olotu, was the first to give a statement. When the agency's investigators reviewed her statement, she was reportedly told that "she was under arrest and would only need to fulfil some bail conditions before she could be released to go."
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"I am aware some of the bail conditions set for her included two sureties with properties in choice locations in Abuja," the source, who asked not to be named as he has no permission to talk to journalists, told this newspaper.
Okunlola, Odo to return today
Multiple sources at the ICPC and TETFund confided in our reporter that Messrs Okunlola and Odo were asked to return to the ICPC headquarters in Abuja on Friday (today).
It is, however, unclear if they will be released today.
At the time of filing this report, PREMIUM TIMES could not confirm if the two officials had arrived at the agency's office.
ICPC confirms, TETFund keeps mum
In a terse message to our reporter, the ICPC's Director of Public Enlightenment, Ademola Bakare, said Mrs Olotu is with the agency.
He wrote: "She was invited for questioning. The interview is still ongoing. Yes, she is in our custody."
But the spokesperson for TETFund, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, neither picked up PREMIUM TIMES' reporter's calls to his telephone line nor responded to messages sent to it as of the time of filing this report.
