The Nigerian printing community was thrown into awe with a report published in the December 12, 2020 edition of the online newspaper, The Cable, with the headline: “Auditor-general: Petroleum ministry spent N14.5m on pen, N46m to print letterhead”
The story centres on the officials of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources spending N14.5 million on the purchase of Schneider pen, N46m to print the ministry’s letterhead and N56m on toner for its photocopy machines.
The Cable, quoting the auditor-general of the federation, said this was contained in the 2015 audit report of the ministry submitted to the senate public accounts committee.
“The contract for the supply of Schneider biros worth N14.5m was split into smaller packages of less than N5m each and was awarded to four different companies in order to circumvent the permanent secretary’s approval threshold of N5m,” the AuGF wrote in a query.
“Similarly, the contract for the printing of the ministry’s letterhead worth N46m was also split and awarded to 11 different contractors”, the report added.
Although Godwin Akubo, representative of the petroleum ministry, has tried to justify the spending, the senate is insistent that there is more to the actions of the ministry than meets the eye.
Reacting to this news, the Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria said, as an institute, without prejudice to the position and defence of the ministry, this latest incident has again, brought to the fore, the concerns that their institute as the umbrella body for Nigerian professional printers, has usually expressed when it comes to public procurement, especially of those items and services where there are abundant local capacity.
With reference to the latest case, they are tempted to ask the following questions:
Were the contracts awarded followed due process?
In other words, were Nigerian companies given a level playing field in the award of the contracts for the printing of letter heads?
According CIPPON: “as much as we congratulate the senate committee for being alive to its oversight functions, we urge it to follow this matter to its logical conclusion.
“We also use the opportunity to reiterate the need for Nigerian parastatals, Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to adhere to the laws as it relates to, not just award of contracts, but also in given special preference to Nigerian companies and organisations as a way of conserving scarce foreign exchange. We also use this opportunity to restate our commitment to ensuring that Nigeria jobs remain in Nigeria, as a way of further stimulating the Nigerian economy”. CIPPON stated
