The World Bank Group on Monday announced 30-month debarment of two Nigerian companies, Viva Atlantic Limited and Technology House Limited, including their Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Norman Didam, for fraudulent, collusive, and corrupt practices linked to the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.
The Washington D.C-based multilateral development institution in a statement hinted that the project aimed to provide targeted financial assistance to poor and vulnerable households was compromised due to sundry fraudulent practices during a 2018 procurement and subsequent contract process.
The bank stated: “The World Bank Group today announced the 30-month debarment of two Nigeria-based companies—Viva Atlantic Limited and Technology House Limited—and their Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Norman Bwuruk Didam.
“The debarment is in connection with fraudulent, collusive, and corrupt practices as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria”, it added.
Specifically, it alleged that Viva Atlantic Limited, Technology House Limited, and their Managing Director, Didam, misrepresented a conflict of interest in their bids and accessed confidential tender information from public officials.
It described the firms and Didam’s actions as constituting fraudulent and collusive practices under its Anti-corruption Framework.
The World Bank further clarified that Viva Atlantic Limited and Didam falsified the company’s experience records, submitted fake manufacturer’s authorisation letters, and provided inducements to project officials, acts which it classified as corrupt practices.
According to the bank, these acts undermined the integrity of the social safety net initiative by the Nigerian government to benefit Nigeria’s most vulnerable populations.
It further stated: “According to the facts of the case and the general principles of the World Bank’s Anticorruption Framework, in connection with a 2018 procurement and subsequent contract, Viva Atlantic Limited, Technology House Limited, and Mr. Didam misrepresented a conflict of interest in the companies’ Letter of Bids and received confidential tender information from public officials, which constituted fraudulent and collusive practices, respectively.
“Further, Viva Atlantic Limited and Mr. Didam misrepresented Viva Atlantic Limited’s experience and submitted falsified manufacturer’s authorization letters, as well as offered and provided things of value to project public officials. These actions were fraudulent and corrupt practices, respectively”, it added.
While the debarment precludes the two companies and Didam from participating in World Bank-financed projects and operations for the specified period, the companies and their CEO as part of their settlement agreements, acknowledged their culpability and committed to meeting specified conditions, including enhanced compliance measures.
In addition, the settlement agreements required the companies’ CEO to complete individual ethics training, just as the entities were mandated to improve their internal integrity compliance policies and implement corporate ethics training programmes in line with the bank’s Integrity Compliance Guidelines.
The World Bank Group stated that reduced debarment periods were granted to the parties due to their cooperation during investigations, voluntary corrective actions, self-imposed restraints from bidding for contracts, and the time elapsed since the infractions.
It also added that the debarments qualified for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions, signed in April 2010.
The bank further stated: “The companies also commit to continue to fully cooperate with the Bank Group Integrity Vice Presidency. The settlement agreements feature reduced debarment periods due to the companies’ and Mr Didam’s cooperation with the Bank Group’s investigation, voluntary corrective actions, voluntary restraint from participating in Bank Group tenders, and the passage of time.”
It restated its commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability in development projects, pointing out that the sanctions on the entities and Didam reflects its zero-tolerance to corrupt or fraudulent practices.
