After spending over N1billion, being part payment for the construction of office complex headquarters, the Code of Conduct Bureau has abandoned the project,

The Bureau, under the chairmanship of Sam Saba had opted to purchase a completed 9-storey building located in the central business district of Abuja just as the abandoned one is also located within the CBD of the city.

The abandoned project which dates back to 2008 was initially put at over N3billion before it was reviewed by the federal executive council in October 2012 to over N8 billion with more facilities .

It has now been abandoned by the Bureau, a development that has raised a lot of eyebrows.

The project was to be executed within 38 months.

The authority further gathered that although the Bureau had problems enlisting the project in the budget especially that of 2015, it curiously got the purchase of office building complex in the 2016.

The National Assembly appropriated the sum of four billion, four hundred and thirty million, one thousand one hundred and seventy nine Naira only(N4,430,001,179).

A request for guideline on purchase of office building made by the Bureau to the Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement, CCB told BPP  that the amount has been appropriated for it in the 2016 budget for the project and sought professional advice on the steps to take.

It said ‘’In view of the above, I am to seek your professional advice and guidance as to the steps to take to fastrack the procurement process’’.

Reacting to our inquiry on the issue, the Deputy Director, Press and Protocol unit of the Bureau,Muhammad Idris said he was not at the Bureau when the 2016 budget was prepared. He however, admitted that the Bureau have appropriation to purchase a completed complex for office headquarters. Idris however, quickly pointed out that it was not a waste as the government of the day is very frugal.

Credit: Leadership