Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike has been urged to fashion ways to tackle procurement fraud and abandoned projects that littered in the territory.
Program Manager at Priests Peace and Justice Initiative, Dr Agbaji Orinya, also called on the former Rivers State Governor to ensure transparency of contract awards and procurement in FCT.
Speaking in Abuja Thursday, Orinya stressed that corruption continues to slow down the development of public infrastructure in the FCT.
He identified issues of transparency in contract awards, project execution, poor service delivery by contractors and embezzlement of funds in some instances as the bane of development of the nation’s capital and its environs.
He called on the FCT Minister to ensure adherence to the procurement process designated by the Law regarding contract variations. At the same time, she urged citizens to ask questions and hold leaders to account.
On what the FCT Minister must do to combat contracting corruption in FCT, Orinya said, “The Minister should put a system in place that will make corrupt transactions difficult. There should be a portal where people can verify what project is supposed to be in a particular area. There should be a proper evaluation mechanism, which will make them deliver projects.
“It’s about transparency and accountability. The public should know how much has been approved for a particular project. They (citizens) need to know the nature of each project within their environment so that they can ask questions.
“We have a procurement process – where you have to identify projects, plan projects, there is a process for approval and funding. Are we following this process in awarding contracts by law,” he questioned.