The General Duties and Procurement Officer, Kaduna State Polytechnic, Ahmed Umar, has been docked before Justice M. T. Tukur of Kaduna State High Court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged contract inflation and award of contracts to a company which he owned.
The accused was arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on holding a private interest in the award of contracts, fraudulent acquisition of property, conferring corrupt advantage upon himself and
inflation of goods and services to the tune of N39,361,027.50.
Mr. Umar was said to have inflated the cost of an executive conference table from N350,000 to N1,250,000 and the cost of a Chinese carpet from N567,600 to N2,017,600.
The defendant was also accused of using his office for gratification by awarding the contract for the rehabilitation of a road and parking lot worth N12,662,590 and the procurement of 1,277 two-seater classroom chairs worth N22,459,237.50 to Skylight Nigeria Limited, a company of which he was the proprietor.
Mr. Umar’s actions contravene sections 12,19 and 22, sub-section 3 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and if found guilty, he shall on conviction be liable to a term of imprisonment ranging from 5 to 7 years.
The accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges preferred against him and was granted bail in the sum of N2 million with a surety in like sum who must be a government level 14 officer with evidence of residing in Kaduna for the past 5 years.
The matter was adjourned to June 29 for the commencement of hearing.
Premium Times
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