due process was followed in the procurement of relief materials for emergency purposes across the country, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Maihaja told a House of Representatives panel at the weekend.
House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness had at its public hearing on violation of public trust in NEMA confronted the agency with due process infractions in the award of N3.1b procurement of 10,000 metric tons of rice for emergency purposes in the Northeast between 2017 and 2018.
The Committee also questioned the agency why an officer other than a Procurement officer had to sign award letters.
In his response, Maihaja said the agency was forced to approach the Presidency for the procurement of the materials because development partners withdrew 85 percent of their funding support for the region.
While availing the Committee with the copy of the approval letter, the DG said the agency can not award a procurement contract that is more than N300m.
He said: “We insist that due process be followed on procurement since my assumption of duties in April 2017 because different methods were used before then with serious resistance from within and outside.
“Today NEMA is one of the most investigated agencies but due process was followed in our procurements.
“On the 10,000 metric tons of rice, we complied with the Procurement Act, the agency sought Presidential approval for the procurement 10,000 metric tons of rice at 3.1b for emergency purposes in the Northeast.
“The approval was signed by the Vice President in a letter by the Deputy Chief of Staff.
“The contract was awarded to two companies as well as logistics companies for delivery.
“The contractors don’t get paid until deliveries are confirmed by the recipient agencies.
“Also, the deliveries directly to NEMA are taken to our warehouses across the country and confirmed by our store officers before payments are made.”
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