Nigeria has not formally contacted the World Bank over vetting of contracts through procurement processes in the country, an official of the financial institution told Daily Trust yesterday.
President Goodluck Jonathan had said in an interview with the Tell Magazine that he will soon set up a desk of World Bank officials to vet all Federal Government contracts irrespective of work done by existing structures to reduce corruption in the procurement system.
But World Bank Senior Communications Specialist Obadiah Tohomdet said Wednesday in Abuja that from his findings with the bank’s procurements specialist, the Nigerian government is yet to communicate to the bank on the idea.
He said after reading the said interview: “It is like an idea in the making by the President. They have not contacted us from what I learned.”
The World Bank Senior Communications Specialist said that the bank has competence in the area of procurement, adding that it has been working with the Nigeria government in that aspect.