The Auditor, who also noted that the process of contract award within the period under review was so opaque, said “the former Accountant-General simply acted as a Government House cashier. All monies she released to the Government House were bulk sums, which she said she didn’t know what they were used for.”
On contract award procedures, Osuji maintained that most agencies that were by law relevant to government contract award were largely shut of the award process within the period under review.
He said: “All contracts’ documents awarded by the state government ought to be sent to the State Auditor-General’s Office, as well as the Attorney’s-General Office, but within the period under review, this provision was largely observed in the breach.
“If any contract was awarded, my office did not know about it and we could not have audited what we never knew that existed.
“The Ministry of Works, on inquiry, usually tell my office that they were not aware of any contract awarded by the state government. Only the Government House was in a position to give contract details.”
On how he generated the data that formed part of the annual reports, Osuji said “our reports were obviously watery. There were no reliable records. We kept making demands from the Governor’s Principal Secretary, Dr. Paschal Obi, but he never obliged.”
Making his submission also, the Government House Director of Information, Mr. Kennedy Amanze, narrated how a contract committee, headed by the Governor’s Principal Secretary, Dr. Paschal Obi, acted as “a contract task force.”
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