From John Silas, Lagos
The management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has dissociated itself from a fake contract award letter being circulated online purporting to originate from the desk of the Managing Director of the Commission.
The commission stated that the fake letter which purportedly notified an Italian company of an award of a contract for the sum of 56,250,000 Euros did not emanate from the commission.
According to a release from the office of the Director, Corporate Affairs of the commission, Dr Ibitoye Abosede, the commission stressed that it is not in the know of such contract and that the public should disregard such malicious falsehood.
The commission unequivocally stated that the document was fake, adding that the purported contract is also a scam. “It does not exist either in the records of the Commission nor is any of our officials aware of it,” the commission said.
The interventionist commission having studied the purported document, stated that the Contract awards in NDDC follow due process as stipulated by the Procurement Act, adding that at the end of that process, the successful bidder is issued an award letter signed by the Director of Procurement. It also stated that award letter is on a security paper which has a serial number and a QR code.
The commission stated further that contract award letters do not come from the desk of the Managing Director, saying that the fake document was probably generated on an ink jet printer and purportedly came from the desk of the Managing Director.
The commission also disclosed that the fake letter dated June 1, 2023 and purportedly said to be signed by the Managing Director and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs did not originate from the managing director as he does not sign such letter. “In any case, the signature on the fake document is not that of our managing director. Also, Nigeria had no Minister of Niger Delta Affairs by June 1, 2023 as the Federal Executive Council was dissolved before the handover of power on May 29, 2023.”
The commission reiterated that the fake letter failed all the Commission’s branding standards, and therefore called on the general public to disregard it. “Our take is that the letter is a product of a cheap scam. It has no relationship whatsoever with the Commission. We hereby advise all stakeholders and interested parties to cross check any purported letter of contract award with the Procurement Department of the Commission. We also warn the public to beware of fraudsters who will stop at nothing to dupe others.
It also stated that the law enforcement agencies have been notified to go after the culprits. “We have reported this scam to the law enforcement agencies so that the culprits can be brought to book.”
