AbdulAhad Otuoze
Massive corrupt acts are going on in the ECOWAS Court-Diplomatic Mission, Abuja – Nigeria.
This online platform obtained a memo issued November, 2020 informing the staff of ECOWAS that the office will be relocating from Wuse 2 Abuja FCT to Gudu area in Abuja.
It was gathered that controversy trailed the choice of location and why Diplomats from 15 ECOWAS countries working with the court should be exposed to Gudu location that is generally unsafe due to the porous security lapses in the area.
Our sources confirmed that the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria allocated 200million Naira through the FCDA to provide accommodation for the ECOWAS Court.
However, instead of following the laid down protocols of going through the tender and award the contract, some judges of the ECOWAS Court hijacked the project of relocation of office and for whatever reason known to them chose Gudu rather than allowing the host government to find a suitable location as the Diplomatic practice is.
Our sources further confirmed that no procurement procedure of bidding as laid down by ECOWAS regulations was observed and neither was any vetting process done through the relevant department of ECOWAS.
It was also confirmed that a few Judges of ECOWAS Court took over the project after receiving the Cheque from the FCDA against the standard practice, noting that the building is already paid for in Gudu by the Judges, contracts for partitioning awarded and all procurement contracts awarded without going through the procurement department, without bidding as laid down in the ECOWAS regulations, everything is being done in secrecy with speed without considering the Security of the ECOWAS Court staff.
Some of the staff who spoke to our medium and don’t want their names in print condemned the actions of the Judges who unilaterally took over contracts and broke the procurement rules and regulations without considering the legality of their actions.
It is unheard of for judges to be involved in awarding and executing contract jobs without recourse to the department legally saddled with the responsibility but lament the autocratic attitude of the Judges involved in the deal of procurement.
They opined that it is the Nigerian government fund been used without due process and without considering the security of staff of the court, stressing that the question begging for answer is whether there are no accomodations in the central area of Abuja which is seen to be safer and why FCDA is not following the rules of securing the office as the host government?
They further said it is in the interest of tax payers and ECOWAS community to investigate the deal and flagrant violation of rules and interests involved in the relocation of office deal.
The public and staff of ECOWAS Court seek for answers as to why the office relocation project is shrouded in secrecy and urgency among the judges involved..
They noted that what was officially sent to the staff was different from the reality on ground, saying only a few judges benefited from the shady deals.
It was gathered that Nigeria government was not involved in choice of location and neither was there any bidding and vetting in accordance with ECOWAS regulations, urging the appropriate authority to carry out a thorough investigation to unravel the true position of things
