Abia Embraces Due Process Compliance, Project Regulation to Prevent Financial Wastages

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The Due Process Office of Abia State Government has set in motion the needed machinery to ensure that project execution in the state comply with due process procedures and financial regulations.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Due Process, Dr. Oluebube Chukwu, made this known yesterday when he received the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Philemon Asonye Ogbonna, and members of the Management team of the ministry.  

He said that in embarking on capital projects, all government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) must strictly adhere to their annual budgets as approved by the state legislature. 

Chukwu told the Environment Commissioner and his team, who were on fact-finding interactive meeting at the Due Process Office at Government House Umuahia, that adherence to budgetary provisions remains sacrosanct.

“Governor Alex Chioma Otti’s administration has jettisoned any form of shortcuts and practices that have impeded development in the state, and has made it mandatory for all contracts to be executed by all ministries and agencies to pass the due process tests,” he said.

The SSA on Due Process commended the Environment Commissioner and his team for their commitment in making sure that every project undertaken by their ministry was done within the confines of the financial regulations of the state. 

He stated that his office will soon embark on a performance review of all government projects in the state in order to ensure compliance to quality standards. 

The Due Process man emphasised that the era of MDAs engaging in unregulated projects exceeding their thresholds and bypassing the necessary due process procedures, was gone for good.  

According to him, such practices had in the past led to financial wastages and misappropriation of government funds, orchestrated by individuals with fraudulent intentions against the state.

Chukwu, who is Abia’s due process czar, outlined the stringent procedures which every project must pass through in order to have Due Process stamp of approval.

He said that the process normally starts with the Ministry’s Tenders Board conducting preliminary checks on projects and contractors, followed by the issuance of a Certificate Of No Objection to successful contractors. 

He said: “For any project to be executed in the state, the Ministry’s Tenders Board, after publishing adverts for bids, will conduct all necessary pre-qualification preliminary checks of the project and the contractors. 

“The Board will forward the details of the successful contractor to Due Process Office, who will at that stage, issue a Certificate Of No Objection to the successful contractor.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Environment had expressed the commitment of his ministry to adhere to the state government’s approved guidelines and standards in contract awards and other formalities. 

Ogbonna lauded Chukwu for his guidance on current contract award trends, assuring him that the Ministry of Environment would always comply with the required procedures.