The Coordinator, Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, has denied breaching the public procurement law in the award of an N88m contract for the empowerment of some Niger Delta youths in salon business.
Dokubo’s media aide, Murphy Ganagana, said in a statement on Tuesday that 22 Niger Delta youths benefitted from the project.
According to him, the project was based on a business template of N4m for each of the beneficiaries.
Ganagana said the provisions of the public procurement law were complied with in awarding the contract to Tovo Vicks Nigeria Enterprises Limited.
He said the initiative was in line with Dokubo’s mandate “to provide human capital development and skills acquisition for the beneficiaries of the amnesty programme towards deepening stability in Niger Delta.”
He said the N4m per beneficiary covered the cost of refresher/entrepreneurial training course to prepare the beneficiaries for effective management of their businesses, land acquisition or shop rent for use by the beneficiaries, among others.
He added, “We wish to state that the contract was awarded in line with due process and the company, Tovo Vicks Nigeria Enterprises Limited, is duly registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission with RC 1150012.
“Therefore, Dokubo did no wrong by awarding the contract in furtherance of the mandate of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. However, it should be noted that implementation of the contract has yet to commence.”
PUNCH.
