By AbdulRaheem Aodu
Kaduna
National Teachers Institute (NTI) has refuted reports that it awarded N1.5 billion contract for the printing of training manuals and customised CD plates in the 2012 MDGs, saying that the whole contract was for N241 million and it passed through public procurement tenets.
According to the institute, the malicious publication only aimed at tarnishing the hard-earned reputation of the institute, its leadership and management as all its activities are carried out under the purview of the law.
It said it would not hesitate to take recourse to the law to seek redress in the face of such fictitious, unfounded and malicious reports.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Institute, Malam Yushau Ahmed, told reporters in Kaduna that the Institute had a procurement unit with competent staff charged with the responsibility of processing tender for bidding and other procurement activities in line with the Procurement Act 2007, which was applied in the award of the said contract.
He said: “The attention of the Institute has been drawn to some dailies insinuating a fraud of N1.5 billion in the Institute’s 2012 capital projects with specific reference to contracts awarded in 2012 MDGs for the printing of training manuals and customised CD plates.
“The Institute wish to categorically state that contracts for the printing of manuals and customised CD plates were for only N241 million and awarded to successful companies that responded to the advertisement in national dailies and the federal tenders journals in line with the provision of the Procurement Act 2007.”
He said the Institute had never in 38 years awarded contract to the tune of N1.5 billion in any year, adding that such insinuation by elements, who wanted to drag the name of the institute in the mud, was baseless and did not follow government’s 2012 statutory release.
“Some elements that were unsuccessful in the 2012 contract bidding mischievously dragged the Institute to court but were restrained by a court order not to unnecessarily harass the Institute.
“The Institute would not allow anybody to put it into disrepute and it is taking necessary steps to bring to book those people trying to truncate the successes achieved in the ongoing years.”
