… Acting DG ploughs N400m training fund into succession battle
Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Okon Bassey Ewa, allegedly collected N28 Millions in Bribe and another $25,000.000 to pay for his children’s school fees abroad to facilitate the removal of the leadership at the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Abuja.
This is the latest bribery scandal of a succession battle rocking NASENI.
NASENI is a parastatal under the Ministry of Science and Technology
Recall that the minister had allegedly received a jeep and N150 million from the Acting Director-General NASENI, Dr Mohammed Haruna, to enable him procure a house in Abuja with a promissory note from the Acting DG to make available N100 million when he becomes the substantive DG of the agency.
The latest scandal is yet another desperate bid by the trio of Professor Ewa, former DG of NASENI Professor Adesowo Olusegun and the Acting DG, Mohammed Haruna, to ensure that the latter secures substantive appointment.
Penultimate week, the House of Representatives held a hearing to look into the removal of heads of NASENI research institutes and the subsequent directive by the Minister that the affected directors be transferred to the headquarters of the agency in Abuja while others proceed on compulsory sabbatical in spite of the fact that their tenures had not expired.
The directors involved include Engineer Aliyu Adnan of the Hydraulic Equipment Development Institute (HEDI), Kano, Professor Christian Nwajagu, Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI), Enugu, Dr Steve Mommoh, National Engineering Design Development Institute (NEDDI), Nnewi, Anambra State and Engineer Kole Olunlade, Acting Director, Engineering Materials Development Institute (EMDI).
In a bid to get the lawmakers to back their plot, the Acting DG of NASENI made available N28 million to the minister. Another $25,000 dollars was also given to the minister for the payment of tuition fees for his children studying abroad.
But to the chagrin of the acting DG, the minister instead pocketed the money which he had collected from the DG for onward transmission to the Hon Akinlade Isiaq- led committee on science and technology of the House of Representatives.
The committee at the hearing had berated the minister for attempting to remove the directors whose tenure and years of service were still running contrary to public service rules and advice from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation to the effect that the said research directors were not affected by government’s policy on tenure for directors and permanent secretaries.
The minister had assured the committee that he would reinstate the directors after receiving further advice from the head of service.
Underhand Dealings in NASENI
For the Acting Director-General of NASENI, Dr Mohammed Haruna, the battle to secure a substantive appointment must be fought with all the funds available at the agency.
A source at the agency said the DG has diverted N400 million budgeted for training and retraining (research and development)
“The 404 million naira provided in the 2012 budget of the agency for staff training and retraining (research and development), he has currently rolled out difficult conditions for staff who will want to develop themselves in engineering and science related fields in the agency placing the restriction on 1 to ratio 10 staff, per department, annually. This is unbearable”, the source said.
“It is also necessary to note that contract awards for various sums of N6million, N21million and N20million were fraudulently giving out for the sole purpose of distributing training materials to NDDC states, in order to defraud the agency.
Files are in the agency to prove this fact. Some of these monies were to be used to bribe the minister of science and tech to delay the interview for the position of the DG as this would enable the Ag. DG to act as long as the minister wanted so as to perfect the deals already entered into”, the source said.
The Acting DG was until his appointment the Director/Chief Executive of Power Equipment and Electrical Machinery Development Institute (PEEMADI), Okene, Kogi State, an institute under NASENI. He also doubled as Director, Engineering Infrastructure at the headquarters of the agency in Idu, Abuja.
The source further revealed that the acting DG of the agency has been committing financial crimes at the agency.
“The Ag. DG, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has been committing financial crimes in the agency in collaboration with the Minister of Science and Technology. It is needful to inform the public that virtually all his present approvals do not pass through the audit unit of the agency. There is no sense of due process in his administration.
“Contracts are being awarded by him and his SA alone and always compelling the account department to pay without delay. To ease the flow of money for their personal interests, he (the Ag. DG) has just made his SA, Mr.
Muhammed .A. Muhammed, head of procurement unit of the agency.
“Since assuming the position as Ag. DG, NASENI, records have shown that he has been collecting double salary (from PEEMADI, Okene and NASENI Headquarters). This is a criminal offence. Confirm this information from the bank schedules and the CBN new payment platform.
“He was also overpaid his 28 days arrears with over N700,000 not minding that there are people employed in NASENI since 2007 who have not being given their 28 days arrears, he decided to pay his agents/staff who he moved from PEEMADI, Okene to the headquarters since he assumed office”, the source said.
According to this impeccable source “as the Acting DG, monies (overhead) that would have been used to pay staff who embark on one official assignment or another are used to fund his personal interests and struggle for power; bribing the Minister, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other people who he believed would assist in making him substantive DG. Currently, he has collected money from agency’s account in the name of embarking on a two-week official trip to China with the Permanent Secretary and other members of his team. These moneys were paid into his SA’s account instead of individual accounts as demanded by CBN rules.
“He earlier confided in some members of his team that he would use part of the monies to pay for school fees of the children of the Hon. Minister of Science and Technology, which amounts to US$25,000”.