Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, based Journalist, Francis Dufugha, who publishes a tabloid, Niger Delta Herald, had a bitter experience on Tuesday on account of a report he published exposing the shady deals initiated by some employees of the state government working with the Directorate of Finance in the state Ministry of Education who allegedly deduct humongous amount of monies from contractors handling projects in the Ministry.
According to the highlight of the report, whose content was made available to Popular News, “contractors handling various state government projects under the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education have lamented unholy and illegal deductions by the Directorate of Finance of the Ministry of Education; deductions which are reportedly unknown to the state government.
“Several contractors who spoke with our correspondent in Yenagoa, the State Capital decried the development, and called on the Governor of the State, Senator Douye Diri to look into the situation, describing it as worrisome, noting that it is one of the major reasons why abandoned projects are littered all over the state in the Ministry.
“The contractors who pleaded anonymity for fear of being blacklisted, alleged that outside the statutory deductions which are deducted from source, which monies go directly into the State’s treasury, the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Education allegedly deducts between 10 to 15 percent from every contract awarded under the Ministry under the guise of supervision and other logistics, stating that such deductions are made, only at the Education Ministry in Bayelsa State.
“Some of the affected contractors also told our correspondent that they have similar jobs from the State Ministry of Health and other ministries but no additional kobo is deducted from their contract sums except the statutory deductions, and pleaded with the State Governor and other relevant agencies to look into their plight and make the needed reparations.”
Going further, the report stressed “it was gathered that some angry contractors, in the recent past, even protested to the office of the Commissioner for Finance, Bayelsa State to complain about these alleged illegal deductions by the Finance Department of the Bayelsa State Education Ministry.
“It was also gathered that several of such complaints have been forwarded to the office of the Bayelsa State Finance Commissioner through one of his aide, who is also a staff of the Bayelsa State Treasury
“An Ijaw activist who is also handling a project in a community in Southern Ijaw LGA of the State is believed to be one of such countless victims of the finance directorate’s alleged illegal and criminal deductions which is believed to be the reason why many contractors have abandoned their projects.
“Another contractor of the Ministry who is also a titled Chief who spoke with our correspondent also lamented how the Director of Finance of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education expected contractors to complete their jobs when the Ministry allegedly illegally deducts between 10 to 15 percent from the total value of every contract after the lawful deductions to the State Government such as Tax, VAT, when most of these projects are believed to be grossly under costed on account of the prevailing economic situation and the skyrocketing cost of building materials in the country.”
Mr. Dufugha divulged that the report obviously did not go down well with some influential individuals in the state government house, Creek Haven, who ordered for his arrest and detention by the police in the quest to get to the root of how the details of the shady deal became public knowledge. He was held incommunicado for several hours until the intervention of his professional colleagues who are members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists(NUJ) saved him from further intimidation and harrasment.
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