Some contractors have asked the Accountant General of the federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, to urgently redeploy the director of Finance and Accounts (DFA) in the ministry of works, Olakunle Ogunsemowo Oladipupo, for gross incompetence.
The contractors alleged that Mr Oladipupo had demonstrated times without number that he lacked what it takes to handle the jobs of a DFA in a busy ministry like works. The DFA has since denied the allegations describing their call as self-serving.
In a statement signed by Gabriel Elegbeleye, copy of which was made available to newsmen, the contractors said part of the DFA’s inefficiency results in the delay in paying contractors who have presented all the necessary and relevant documents couple with the fact that the government through the office of the accountant general has made money available.
The contractors insisted that even though monies from the 2022 supplementary budget and the bottom-up funds have been made available to the ministry, their members who deserve to paid using the said funds have yet to be paid because of the sluggish manner with which the DFA handles his work.
While insisting that the money had been in the ministry’s account for over one month, the contractors said the delay was making them incur more losses due to the rising inflation.
The contractors urged the accountant general to cross-check the ministry’s account ‘to enable her confirm their claims that the monies for supplementary budget and Bottom-up have are lying idle in the ministry’s account while contractors continue to incur losses.
They accused the DFA of demanding for kick-back from contractors before processing their payments alleging that “what he does is to demand for money before working on one’s documents. Those who insist on not giving him a dime have not been paid their money’
According to them, the Oladipupo’ attitude was contrary to the rules of his office and stands in contrast with how DFAs that manned the office before him behaved.
When contacted, the DFA denied holding on to payments and noted that he was waiting for the minister’s approval to effect the payments that had been processed.
“For the bottom-up payment, we have only two batches remaining and awaiting the minister’s directive. As for the other payment, we pay as we get the vitals and these vitals from the contractors come in gradually” he added.
Last modified: November 4, 2023
