Group Alleges Amnesty Office Awarded N2.9bn Contract To Train Pilots

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Coalition For Transparency International has alleged that the Presidential Amnesty Office has awarded a N2.9 billion contract for the training of 139 pilots and engineers barely few weeks to the end of this current administrator.

The Amnesty Office is headed by interim administrator, Maj Gen Barry Ndiomu (retd.), who was appointed by former president, Muhammadu Buhari in September 2022 to wind down the Presidential Amnesty Programme and whose tenure is expected to end anytime soon.

When contacted, the special assistant, Presidential Amnesty Office, Freston Akpor declined to comment.

He had always said all the allegations are handiwork of mischief makers and that they have begun another round of smear campaigns.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, the coordinator of the group, Ese John alleged that the Amnesty Office paid N2.9 billion full contract sum to the companies handling the training in violation of the Procurement Act 2019, as amended, which stipulates 30 per cent mobilisation fee for contracts.

The coalition further said it was not clear if the agency conducted an open competitive bidding for the contract as stipulated by the Procurement Act.

They also alleged that the interim administrator does not have the authority to award such a huge contract.

The coalition also said that the office was persuaded to pay the full contract sum upfront because of the uncertainty of the tenure of the interim administrator, who has a number of petitions against him.

They described the payment of the N2.9billion contract sum in full as odd and curious.

Meanwhile, about 60 of the 139 beneficiaries of the training programme, maintenance engineers, would have their training conducted in Lagos at the Leads Stream Aviation, while the pilots are to be trained in France by Green Africa Airline and at Sim Aero in South Africa.

The coalition however, stated that their investigations revealed that the Lagos training centre was not yet ready and the Amnesty Office told the beneficiaries that the reason for the delay in deploying them was because of the petitions written against the interim administrator.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Coalition of Niger Delta Civil Society Groups had called on President Bola Tinubu to retain and extend Ndiomu’s tenure.

The group’s coordinator, Comrade Bunawari Famous Doso, expressed optimism that Ndiomu will turn around the office if his tenure is extended.