A peace advocacy group, the Movement for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta (MSDND) has provided evidence on the alleged fraudulent acts that led to the 2019 vandalisation and looting of the Presidential Amnesty Training Centre in Boro town of Kaima in Kolokuma/Opokuma local government area of Bayelsa state.
The group, which had last week visited the site of the abandoned amnesty training center and called on the federal government to facilitate the rebuilding of the center, announced that the audio and documented evidences available will be submitted to the Bayelsa state police command and the Economic and Financial crime Commission (EFCC) to assist in bringing those behind the alleged looting of the center to book.
The national coordinator of the group, Chief Ayibatekena Olodin, noted that despite the audio evidence released last year by the Director of Finance and Administration of the Amnesty Office, Mr. Ilem Unam and his Deputy, Andy Akpan, the evidence in possession of the group showed a systematic use of fifteen companies as alleged conduit pipe for fraudulent procurement and delivery to the looted amnesty center.
In the letter to the Bayelsa Police Command, the group alleged that about fifteen companies listed on the petition submitted to the police and EFCC including one AKA JAMUB were allegedly being used for purported procurement contract and later loot the site where such procured equipment were delivered including the Presidential Amnesty Training Centre in Bayelsa.
It was also revealed that three companies out of the fingered fifteen (15) companies who operated under the administration of the Interim Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Prof. Charlse Dokubo were allegedly used in seeking federal government contracts at the Amnesty Office are allegedly without any form of registration with the Nigeria Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The group, NSDND, claimed that these companies were allegedly to secure contracts,” but at the time of payments, they will use these companies letterhead and write to the Amnesty office and the Amnesty Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA), instructing the DFA to make payments into their supplier’s accounts which is one of the properly registered companies listed above, because the unregistered companies had no bank accounts”.
NSDND claimed and quote that in the audio available to them,” one of the accused contractor was heard threatening the Amnesty Office Director of Finance, Ilem Unam but Unam rejected the threat and was heard saying “…The money is a total of N4.88 billion. I think the one they are particular about is the N1.8billion. First of all, they awarded it as a distribution contract and I said ‘no, how can you award N1.8billion to one person and there was no Tenders Board’?”
“I don’t know when the contract was awarded. As a DFA, I am a statutory member of the tenders board. I don’t know when it was awarded. And awarding N1.8billion contract to one person is against the majority interest of the Niger Delta People. I told them if it is, I would not put my hand there; I would not pay.”
“When it didn’t work, they came to meet me. Musa (Director of Procurement) had the guts to come to me and say he is my senior in the Service. How can a Deputy Director claim he is my senior in the service? I proved to him that he is not my senior. I am his senior. He said if he approved anything, I was not supposed to say no. I told him he didin’t know what he was talking about. I told him to go and look at the financial regulations.
“The major function of the Director of Finance is that I am a Chief Financial Adviser to the Accounting Officer… They went and changed it. When the money eventually came, they went and repackaged it and gave it a different name. I have all the documents with me here. I refused to pay. I used the money to pay as many that are possible. Can you imagine? They are very heartless! You mean I should leave all those files people have been crying for months and then pay, not only the N1.8billion but a total of N4.88billion…Musa and Brown are their members”.
“They said they would give me N150million; I said I don’t want that kind of money. We all like money but to leave all those files and pay N1.8billion plus other fake ones that are there and give you? For what? I went to go and meet him and he told them, ‘I have told the DFA to pay, he is the one who has refused to pay’… pitching them against me.”
“He (Dokubo) is worse than Boro [General Paul Boroh, former Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme). Very foolish man. When you people begin to pester me, as a Civil Servant, I am not supposed to be opening my mouth to tell what’s going on. You know sometimes I continue to explain and explain, and I begin to tell lies. But you people would not understand. Every day we get work order, 99.9, 99.9. I said reduce the value of these contracts”.
The NDSDN however called on the authorities of the EFCC and the Police to opened a detailed investigation into the 2019 looting of the N60billion Presidential Amnesty Training Centre in Kaima,Bayelsa State and bring those involved to book.
