https://www.newsindicator.com.ng/2024/07/17/sahara-reporters-goofed-oyetola-complied-with-procurement-laws/

Sahara Reporters goofed: Oyetola complied with procurement laws

By Emmanuel Adedeji

According to Yul Han, every journalist must "ensure that every news and reports that will be disseminated to the public is done in fairness and is unbiased."

This cardinal principle of ethical journalism was what the hitherto credible news outlet, Sahara Reporters, recently threw to the dogs when, carrying out a hatchet job to smear the good name of the ex-governor of Osun State, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola, they failed to cross-check their information from all important stakeholders before going to press.

Oyetola, now the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, was accused by the news medium of violating the 2015 procurement law of the state when, according to the report, his government awarded one contract three times.

Two critical issues were raised in the report: one, that the government of Oyetola did not advertise or allow for open bidding when it awarded a contract by Direct Labour under the Ministry of Works. Two, that one contract was split into three to beat procurement laws. I will endeavour to address the two issues in my article.

[b]According to Section 59 of the Procurement Law of Osun State 2015, a procuring entity may by reasons of economy, efficiency, etc, initiate procurement by means of restricted procurement. Direct contracting (otherwise known as Direct Labour), which comes under this category, is not subjected to open or competitive bidding as erroneously canvassed in the Sahara Reporters' publication. [/b]Therefore the decision of the state government of Osun under the headship of Oyetola did not flout the known procurement laws of the state when it awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of GOF junction-Florentino School junction along Ori-Oke Oloruntosin, Ilupeju, by way of direct labour.

Similarly, the claim, that the government of Oyetola awarded three contracts for the same "rehabilitation of GOF junction-Florentino School junction along Ori-Oke Oloruntosin, Ilupeju, between July 2020 and April 2021, totalling N700m" was a misrepresentation of facts as nothing like that happened.

The said project was only awarded once, and not multiple times as advanced in the malicious report published by the Sahara Reporters. The state government of Osun is put to test to publish details of multiple disbursements of fund if the sponsored report by the Sahara Reporters is truthful and credible.

It is absurd that the Sahara Reporters would publish a disparaging report on procurement process under Oyetola when the government's accountability in that regard was even nobly acknowledged as one of the best and rewarded with hefty grant by the States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SFTAS), a World Bank initiative, the sum which was accessed by the current government of Adeleke.

To earn the SFTAS grant, a state must be accountable and transparent in all the procurement processes. And this was the government of Oyetola believed in and signed on to without reservation. One of the things put in place by then government was an open contract portal which allowed internet surfer from any part of the world to have an unfettered access to the details of the contracts undergone by the government. For the efficiency of this process, the state government earned further grant from SFTAS. Those familiar with the SFTAS scheme then would confirm how independent verification agents were fastidious about the scheme's eligibility criteria. They ensured every Kobo that went into procurement was accounted for in practical terms.

A website, www.ocdsosun.org.ng, was created in 2021 for this purpose. The website, up till this moment still hosts details of the contracts awarded and procurement processes undertook during the tenure of ex-Governor Oyetola.

Again, in December 2021, a dedicated e-procurement platform was launched. It is also a dedicated end-to-end procurement software which became operational in January 2022, but because the government of Oyetola exited shortly after the launch of the website, the website could not be used much. But despite, no fewer than 118 contracts awarded in the life of the government of Oyetola were uploaded for the perusal of the public. In sharp contrast, only 10 of the contracts awarded by the current government have been uploaded for the use of public in almost the 24 months of the administration.

Here is how SFTAS in its 2021 Assessment Report described the openess of the Oyetola government in relation to procurement: "IVA ( Independent Verification Agents) confirmed that the data published were in line with the OCDS. The ( website) yields a list of 60 contracts awarded in 2021 with a total value of N1.7bn are above the threshold of N10m stated in the findings and the remainder are less than the threshold and include several contracts as low as N1m. This indicates that the State published all contracts rather than contracts above a 10-million naira threshold."

According to BudgIT, a notable transparency advocacy group, Osun State did not fare well in fiscal transparency in the first quarter of 2024:

1. Its Medium-Term Expenditure Framework document was not scored because it didn't meet the group's metrics.
2. The citizens' budget was not timely published.
3. The proposed budget was not found online.
4. Budget Implementation Report was not comprehensive.
5. The e-procurement portal lacked up to date documents.

What this means is that the current government of Osun is being run like a secret cult, a departure from the rested government of Oyetola. So the public can see for themselves the administration hostile to transparency and accountability.

When the Adeleke government debuted, the website www.ocdsosun.org.ng was handed to them as an independent website so also the e-procurement portal as an independent software suite. However, for reasons best known to the morally wrecked handlers of the current government, the two inherited websites were married together in a dodgy manner with the government website to have www.egp.osunstate.gov.ng. To achieve this, they had to migrate all the data from the inherited portals to the current government website which was what the Sahara Reporters quoted in their poisonous report.

Because the handlers of the government probably tampered with the parameters installed on the inherited portal to mitigate against duplication of data, and also failed to carry out the needed clean-up and due diligence, there are instances of duplication of contracts on the new website. A careful look at the two comparing portals ( inherited and new) will highlight the inconsistencies in the data provided in the new portal accessed by the Sahara Reporters. Whereas the GOF junction-Florentino School junction project is published on the inherited portal ( ocdsosun.org.ng) once under number 110, in the new portal created by the present government, it appears more than once with contract award date of April 2021 and different description like "Supply of AGO" under the Tender Description. What is the nexus between road construction and supply of AGO?

One would reason why data not existing on the two inherited portals would find their way in the new portal. Perhaps because the fall-out of the costly error of the careless current government officials is capable of embarrassing Oyetola and enhance the evil narrative against the former government, it was allowed to slide.

The petty government of Adeleke, which for more than one year did not find anything incriminating against the government of Oyetola in the area of contract award, despite their desperation to hurl anything to implicate the ex-governor, are now jumping over themselves to latch on error created by their negligence.

Even if someone must steal, it is doubtful if any sensible person would be so reckless to repeat same transaction three times. Same contract heading. Same amount. And yet would be bold enough to publish it for the whole world to see. Ridiculous!

[b]Again, why should Oyetola split contract of N700m when as a privilege he had authority to approve above the sum without recourse to the state executive counci[/b]l? No doubt, the characters behind the foolish report failed to put to use their "common sense" thus exposing themselves to avoidable ridicule.

While it is difficult for journalists to guarantee truth at all times, it is imperative they strive for accuracy by getting their facts straight and getting all relevant sides to a story. In this case, the position of the ex-Governor was not sought, neither was any of his lieutenants contacted for clarification, before they rushed to press to project him in a negative light. Whereas two cabinet members in the Adeleke government, Rasheed Olawale and Kolapo Alimi, were contacted for their input. That was professionally inappropriate. You do not shave someone's head in his absence.

In clear terms, what the Sahara Reporters published as a violation of procurement law under the government of Oyetola is a mere data migration issue caused by the handlers of the current government. And It is hoped that the government of Osun would be honourable enough to make the necessary clarification in other to set the record straight.

In the same breath, the Sahara Reporters should expunge the provocative and spiteful report on their website and show courage to apologize to the ex-governor whose name has been tarnished by their irresponsible publication. That is the decent and humane thing to do in this circumstance.

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