Anambra SUBEB chair denies involvement in N6.7bn contract scam

The Chairman, Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, Associate Prof. Vera Nwadinobi, has denied any involvement in an alleged N6.7billion UBEC contract scam said to be uncovered and currently being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

There have been reports making the rounds on social media platforms over the alleged N6.7bn contract scam said to be procurement funds meant for UBEC projects in Anambra for 2019, 2020, and 2021.

But in a reaction, when contacted over the development on the telephone on Tuesday, Nwadinobi, dismissed the allegations, saying they are “false and fabricated” stories from those who don’t want the “disruptive change” going on in Anambra.

The reports claimed that the funds were allegedly shared among the chairman of ASUBEB in collaboration with some government officials and their cronies.

Investigations revealed that the UBEC contracts in the period under review were awarded to people who did not participate in the technical bidding process of the board.

However, a source in ASUBEB confirmed to our correspondent that the officials fingered in the alleged scam have been invited by the ICPC to explain their alleged involvement in the development.

The source said, “Also, the anti-graft agencies including ICPC and the office of the Anambra State Auditor General have invited ASUBEB officials for questioning on the ugly developments in the award of contracts.

“The Executive Chairman of Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board and some officials of the ASUBEB have been invited to explain their involvement in the scam by the ICPC on Wednesday morning.

“The development caused confusion at ASUBEB as the notice board where ‘qualified bidders’ list was pasted has been removed and replaced with another list. This happened during the last administration and government officials were guests severally at these anti-corruption agencies.”

The reports also had it that to perfect the scheming, a new Procurement head was brought to ASUBEB who is signing the contract award letters he never supervised and was never part of the Procurement process.

Documents from the office of ASUBEB showed that 12 companies were allegedly awarded contracts they never bid for and 50 other companies that failed the bidding process were also awarded such projects to execute.

During the telephone conversation with our reporter who sought clarification from the ASUBEB chairman over the development, she said the claims were fabricated lies.

She said, “They are all fabricated lies. Somebody is fabricating the stories, the person could not key into the disruptive change by the governor to better Anambra and rid the state of corrupt practices. They are all fabricated stories, none is true, bye bye for now.”

When also contacted on Tuesday through the telephone over the investigations, the Spokesperson for ICPC, Azuka Ogugua, told our correspondent to give her some time to make her findings and get back.

But on Wednesday, when reminded again by our correspondent, Ogugua simply said, “When an investigation is ongoing, we do not disclose the details. Thank you.”