EXCLUSIVE: Ebonyi Works Ministry Awards N3.3Billion Road Contract To Firm Owned By Own Permanent Secretary, Nkwuda Monday

A SaharaReporters investigation has uncovered that the Ebonyi State Ministry of Works and Transport awarded a ₦3.3 billion contract to a company owned by its own Permanent Secretary.

Documents reviewed by SaharaReporters show that the contract for the “Construction of Concrete Rigid Pavement TTC-Iboko Road” was awarded to Maurifrank Nigeria Limited.

Corporate records list four directors of Maurifrank: Nkwuda Monday Nnanna, Nkwuda Roseline, Nkwuda Frankline, and Nkwuda Anita.

Further findings revealed that Nkwuda Monday Nnanna is the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Transport in Ebonyi State. Despite his role as the ministry’s chief accounting officer, his company was granted the multi-billion-naira contract on May 6, 2025.

On Maurifrank’s official portal, the Permanent Secretary’s personal email address, [email protected], is listed as a contact, alongside his verified phone number (withheld in this report).

Checks show that during the tender process, Maurifrank Nigeria Limited, owned by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Nkwuda, submitted a bid of N2.6 billion. However, when the award was finalized, the contract was issued at the sum of N3.3 billion.

What the Law Says

Section 21 (19) of the Ebonyi State Public Procurement Act 2020 states that: "Persons who have been engaged in preparing for a procurement or part of a proceedings thereof may neither bid for the procurement in question or any part thereof, either as main contractor or sub-contractor nor may they cooperate in any manner with bidders in the course of preparing their tenders."

The law also places enormous responsibility on accounting officers of procuring entities to ensure adherence to procurement laws.

Section 21 (16) reads: "The accounting officer of a procuring entity, and any officer to which the task is delegated are responsible and accountable for any actions taken or omitted to be taken either in compliance with or contravention of the law."

Section 21 (17) further states: "The accounting officer of the procuring entity has the responsibility to ensure that provisions of this law and regulations laid down by the Bureau are complied with and concurrent approval by any tenders board shall not absolve the accounting officer for accountability for anything done in contravention of this law or regulations laid down thereof."

Ideally, a Permanent Secretary is the chief accounting officer of a ministry. It is, however, unclear why Ebonyi State’s Works and Transport Ministry chief accounting officer chose to abandon accountability in favour of awarding a multi-billion-naira contract to his own firm.