African Development Bank blacklists Nigerian firm over fraudulent contract bidding

African Development Bank Group has blacklisted Abuja-based construction firm, Oceanic Construction and Engineering Nigeria for a minimum period of 48 months, for alleged fraudulent contract bidding.

According to a statement by AfDB, recently, “An investigation conducted by the Bank’s Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption established that the company misrepresented its year of incorporation, the value of its reference contracts, and the experience of its key personnel, while bidding for two works contracts under the Bank-financed Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project in Nigeria.”

The Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption of the African Development Bank Group is responsible for preventing, deterring and investigating allegations of corruption, fraud and other sanctionable practices in Bank Group-financed operations, the statement said.

The Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project, it said “aims at enhancing access to safe water supply services in the Nigerian states of Oyo and Taraba through, among other components, extension and rehabilitation works on the water transmission and distribution network.

“The debarment, pronounced by the independent Sanctions Commissioner of the Bank, renders Oceanic Construction and Engineering Nigeria ineligible to participate in Bank-financed projects during the debarment period. The debarment qualifies for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions, including the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank Group,” the Bank said in its statement.

It said at “the expiry of the debarment period, Oceanic Construction and Engineering Nigeria shall be eligible again to participate in Bank-financed projects only conditional on the implementation of an integrity compliance programme consistent with its guidelines.”