THE Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, is one of the beneficiaries of the awarded emergency projects during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

The project for the construction of the Infectious Disease Treatment and Isolation Centre was awarded at N91.62 million. This was done through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), an agency of the Federal Ministry of Health.

It is to cater for Covid-19 cases and other viral diseases in the state. The funding came from the COVID-19 intervention fund.

But, prior to the project award, Nigeria recorded its first case of the virus infection on February 27, 2020.

To curtail the disease spread, it launched a series of lockdowns while the country continued to record more cases and casualties.

The disease crippled the government’s revenue generation, such that authorities were forced to review the nation’s annual budget for the year.

It could neither seek a loan nor get immediate monetary interventions from abroad because the disease was a global pandemic.

Hence, the private sector and the Nigerian citizens launched an initiative to voluntarily support the Federal Government’s effort to address the health situation through a monetary donation.

Some had argued the bulk of FG’s expenditure on the pandemic came from the group recognised as the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID).

As of December 2020, Nigeria had spent N38.59 billion (N38,594,085,824.97) from the donations targeted to N120 billion.

The N22.21 billion from the N38.59 billion representing 57.56 per cent was spent on welfare, N8.56 billion, accounting for 22.2 per cent, went for COVID-19 case management, N2.56 billion (6.66 per cent) was for laboratories, among others.

COVID-19 Expenditure from CACOVID donated funds as of 2020. Source: CACOVID.
And because the infectious disease treatment centre, FMC, Owerri, was an emergency project initiated to reduce the disease spread and manage COVID-19 cases, the delivery date was pegged at 84 days.

This implied the project should have been completed within 3 months of award.

According to data from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) portal, the construction job described as completed was awarded to GT Terracom Limited. It is one of several projects awarded during the pandemic and warehoused by the BPP on its open contracting portal known as Nocopo.

What we know of the contractor

GT Terracom Limited was registered as a private limited liability company on March 26, 2013. It is owned by two directors: Engr. Moyekwu Onyiuke and Chioma Onyiuke and it is based in Enugu State. Based on public findings, the company has been inactive in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) database. Being inactive, this reporter would later find out to mean the firm failed to file its annual returns or other obligations to the CAC.

Chioma Onyiuke, one of the two directors, also has an interest in another firm Bubble Plaza Limited, registered on June 30, 2000.

It is, however, uncertain if the usual open competitive bidding was adopted for the contract award due to the pandemic but The ICIR can confirm that the federal government had earlier approved the emergency procurement method through the BPP.

That is, the Selective Bidding method, as against the regular Open Competitive Bidding process of public procurement.

This method only requires relevant ministries, departments and agencies of government to disclose their procurement plans through the BPP portal. It is more of a formal notification to the Bureau; after which the information provided is used to ascertain compliance with the stipulated guidelines designed for emergency procurements.

Field visit shows project execution, utilisation
On Thursday, February 17, The ICIR visited the FMC, Owerri to verify the supposed executed project.

GT Terracom Limited was registered as a private limited liability company on March 26, 2013. It is owned by two directors: Engr. Moyekwu Onyiuke and Chioma Onyiuke and it is based in Enugu State. Based on public findings, the company has been inactive in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) database. Being inactive, this reporter would later find out to mean the firm failed to file its annual returns or other obligations to the CAC.

Chioma Onyiuke, one of the two directors, also has an interest in another firm Bubble Plaza Limited, registered on June 30, 2000.

It is, however, uncertain if the usual open competitive bidding was adopted for the contract award due to the pandemic but The ICIR can confirm that the federal government had earlier approved the emergency procurement method through the BPP.

That is, the Selective Bidding method, as against the regular Open Competitive Bidding process of public procurement.

This method only requires relevant ministries, departments and agencies of government to disclose their procurement plans through the BPP portal. It is more of a formal notification to the Bureau; after which the information provided is used to ascertain compliance with the stipulated guidelines designed for emergency procurements.

Field visit shows project execution, utilisation
On Thursday, February 17, The ICIR visited the FMC, Owerri to verify the supposed executed project.

There were also multiple communications with the relevant officials through emails and phone conversations. But it was a different scenario reaching the hospital’s Public Relations Department.

Officials at the department unruly directed this reporter to step out of the office and to continue reaching the Head of Public Relations Unit, a doctor, Jacy Achonu, until she was available.

Check at the Medical Director’s Office, Kingsley Achigbu showed the MD had travelled out of the state. Yet, repeated calls to Achonu failed.

After so much drama, Achonu eventually reached out and The ICIR inspected the awarded projects.

The Administrative and Logistic Officer, a doctor, Maurice Nwaodu led the inspection on behalf of the hospital.

“Here is the testing centre,” he pointed at the facility. He also showed another building with a red roof where the hospital was managing the cases before the intervention.

“When it (awarded project) came in, we quickly did more renovation on the old structure, separated the testing centre from the main isolation infectious disease ward.”

He explained that suspected cases might not really be infected until after an initial test, hence, the decision not to merge all the reported cases in one ward.

There was different medical equipment at the testing centre to collect samples and test the patients. There were also Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for health officials.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-n91m-intervention-project-to-fmc-owerri-is-easing-viral-diseases-burden/

How much did they spend on this stupid building I am seeing here

Buhari and his stupid APC people don finish us