AKURE— FRESH fact emerged at the judicial commission of inquiry investigating the N20b contract awarded by the immediate past administration in Ondo State as the commission was told yesterday that N185m was paid to a contractor without receipt.
Giving evidence, on the N206m consultancy contract awarded to Gomet Consortium Nigeria limited on the new stadium complex, the then General Manager of the state sports council Chief Kola Oguntibeju said they acted on pressure from politicians.
Chief Oguntibeju who is now on suspension told the commission that there was a directive from the governor’s office that the contractor should be paid that day unfailingly.
He said that the contractor could not produce receipt for the N185m collected adding that since then, the sports council has not seen the contractor who collected the money from Gomet Consortium.
Chief Oguntibeju pleaded with the commission that he would personally look for the contractor that collected the money without any evidence of work done.
In his own evidence, the Accountant of the Sports Council, Mr Ayokunle Fagbola said that the payment was directed by the General Manager who later guaranteed that the contractor would produce the receipt later.
Fagbola explained that the N185m was paid into the account of the sports council which was withdrawn immediately through a prudent Bank cheque given to Gomet Consortium adding that ““Our office was only used as a channel to garbage in and garbage out N185m””
Cheque prepared within two hours
According to him, “ the cheque was prepared within two hours, the voucher raised and payment made to the contractor the same day in the presence of the General Manager” adding that the highest money given to the council was N1m.
The accountant who agreed that the exercise was not tidy and against normal procedure accused the General Manager who insisted that the contractor be paid without any evidence to justify the payment.
He pointed out that the internal auditor in the sports council queried them verbally on the matter while all effort made to trace the contractor to his Lagos address proved abortive.
Fagbola told the commission that he, alongside the cashier spent three days searching for Gomet Consortium in Lagos but could not locate his forwarding address.
Chairman of the commission,. Justice William Akintoroye therefore gave the General Manager, and the Accountant a week to search for the contractor and collect the receipt while warning them against forging the receipt of the contractor.
