TheGlobal Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has suspended procurement in the National Agency for the Control of AIDS following a discovery that bids for a contract worth $12m for the upgrade of warehouses in 13 states were allegedly tampered with by unidentified NACA officials.
Various audits by the international financing and partnership organisation had also raised red flags on the opaque procurement processes and financial discrepancies in NACA.
Already, a five-member team from the Fund is currently reviewing the agency’s procurement process.
The review, which is part of the Fund’s mission, started on September 4 and will end by September 30.
Our correspondent learnt on Saturday that the health programmes being managed by NACA under the Global Fund would now be taken over by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme.
Nigeria is the single biggest recipient of Global Fund grants, having been allocated over $1.5bn for the 2017-2019 and 2020- 2022 funding cycles. The Global Fund also allocated $294m to Nigeria to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
Nigeria has the third highest number of HIV infections in the world as 1.7 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.
It also has the highest tuberculosis burden in Africa and the sixth highest globally. It equally possessed the unenviable record of the highest number of global malaria cases in 2019, as well as the highest number of deaths.
The Fund, founded by Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Kofi Annan, Jeffrey Sachs and Amir Attaran in January 2002, invests more than $4bn a year to support programmes to end epidemics in more than 100 countries.
In March 2021, it launched three new grants to strengthen the fight against HIV, TB and malaria, and build resilient and sustainable systems for health in Nigeria.
The new grants, covering the 2021-2023 implementation period, are worth over $900m – an increase of more than $200m from the previous allocation for 2018-2020.
Data obtained from the GF website on Saturday indicated that the $725,537,538 grant meant for the fight against HIV/AIDS and Malaria, and resilient and sustainable systems for health falls under NACA’s management.
It was gathered that the GF was displeased with the lack of transparency in the procurement processes in NACA.
An audit released in March had exposed how procurements related to COVID-19 worth $19.6m were awarded to unregistered businesses and contractors.
A 2016 audit report similarly identified $20m expenditure for which NACA was unable to provide supporting documentation.
ANN learnt that the suspension of procurement might lead to the withdrawal of N401.2bn ($573,174,655.02) unspent grant if the issues were not speedily resolved.
A senior official said, “What brought up this issue is the contract for upgrading warehouses in 13 states to pharma-grade level. Global Fund is providing a large chunk of the funding. States are also expected to provide a part of the fund.
“A project management firm was responsible for the valuation of the contract, bill of quantity and the rest of that. They have done the first phase of technical evaluation and they were in the process of the second phase, which is the financial evaluation, when there was an allegation that the financial bids were tampered with. The bags containing the bids were said to have been cut open by unknown persons at NACA last month.
“Following protests by the contractors, they were forced to suspend the exercise and the procurement was stalled. Presently, only 21 per cent or so of the $927,842,014 grant approved for the 2021-2023 funding cycle has been spent.
“This means that the outstanding $732,995.191.06 may be recalled if the issue is not speedily resolved. This is a programme that is time-bound and if the fund is not used for the purposes, it will be recalled by the GF and the nation will lose the benefits that should have accrued to the people.”
To resolve the NACA procurement issues, our correspondent learnt that the national committee in charge of the grants called Country Coordinating Mechanism and the Global Fund team met and resolved that all NACA procurements should be handled by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, which is also implementing the Global Fund programme on TB.
Reliable sources said the CCM members were, however, divided following a recommendation that the procurement should be overseen by the Special Assistant to the Health minister, Itohan Ehanire, who is the minister’s daughter.
It was gathered that the CCM is chaired by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.
A source said, “The decision has divided the CCM members, some of whom see a conflict of interest in the whole thing. Another anomaly is that the minister’s daughter, as the special assistant to her father, earns N3m every month paid by the Global Fund.
“She doesn’t attend any meeting, but only sits in her father’s office. Some of the 24 CCM members are uncomfortable with the current situation and how the CCM and Global Fund are handling the matter.”
