The Senior Special Assistant to Abia State Governor on Due Process and Procurement, Dr Oluebube A. Chukwu, has admonished all Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDA"s, to always ensure that all Capital Projects to be executed by them are always captured in the annual budget estimates of the State as approved by the State House of Assembly, for each fiscal year.

Addressing the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Philemon Asonye Ogbonna and the members of the Management team of the Ministry, who came on fact finding interactive meeting in Due Precess office, Government House Umuahia, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor, Dr Oluebube A. Chukwu, who appreciated them for making frantic efforts towards ensuring that all Projects to be awarded and executed by their Ministry is in line with the provisions of the Financial Regulations of the state, adding that gone are the years of embarking on projects above the threshold of each MDA, without following all required Due Process Procedures, which gave room for a lot of wastages and diversions of government funds by enemies of the state.

Explaining further, the SSA, Dr Oluebube A. Chukwu, who restated that Governor Alex Chioma Otti's administration, has jettisoned any form of short cuts and practices that has impeded development in the state, and has made it mandatory for all Contracts to be executed by all Ministries and Agencies, to pass the Due Process tests, insisting that for any Project to be executed in the state, the Ministry's Tenders Board, after publishing adverts for bids, will conduct all necessary pre-qualification preliminary checks of the Project and the Contractors, and will forward the details of the successful Contractor to Due Process Office, who will at that stage, issues Certificate Of No Objection to the successful Contractor.

He added that for Capital projects above the threshold of each Ministry, the Due Process Office will forward the Contract documents to the State Finance and General Purpose Committee, F&GPC, who in return, after satisfactory checks, will issue a recommendation letter to the Due Process Office, who now prepares Due Process Compliance Certificate in company with the Recommendation Letter from F&GPC, which will be forwarded to the State Executive Council through the State F&GPC, and receives approval from them, before sending it back to the MDA, who now forwards to the Ministry of Justice for vetting, agreement, and other official actions, while he added the contract documents will finally be brought back to the Due Process Office, who issues the Due Process Certificate, authenticating that required steps were taken in line with approved standard.

The Due Process Boss at the visit noted that his office with the directive of the state Governor, is building a Data Bank of all government Registered Contractors in the state, urging Ministries executing projects in the state to liaise with the Due Process Office for easy assessment, and added that his office will son embark on performance review program of all government projects in the state, to ensure quality compliance.

Speaking earlier, the Leader of the delegation and the Abia State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Philemon Asonye Ogbonna, said that as Capital Projects Executing Ministry, he decided to take the Management of his Ministry on a fact finding interactive meeting with the Due Process Office, adding that the essence of the meeting is to ensure that they work in line with the approved standard of the state government in contract awards and formalities.

Mr Asonye Ogbonna who was elated for the visit, however appreciated the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Due Process, Dr Oluebube A. Chukwu, for meticulously guiding his Management team on the current trends in contract awards in the state, and added that he will ensure strict compliance of all the required processes, and will not hesitate to consult Due Process Office for further guides.

In a vote of thanks, the Director of Finance and the Director in Charge of the Ministry, Mr Udechukwu Ukachukwu, and the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr Sunday Chika, said they are satisfied with the enlightenment, and thanked the Due Process boss for his smartness and intelligence exhibited during their interactive meeting.