Twelve companies on Friday put in bids for a contract for the utilization of the recovered sum of $954,000 from the former governor of Bayelsa, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

The bid was declared opened by the Solicitor General of the Federations and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mrs Beatrice Jeddy-Agba who said, the ministry is implementing what has been agreed upon by the government of Nigeria and the United States of America (USA).

According to Mrs. Jeddy-Agba, “Assets have been recovered from the former governor of Bayelsa state and those assets are worth about $964,000 which were recovered and returned to Nigeria in February 2023.

“The agreement states that in order to implement renovation of the primary healthcare centres in Bayelsa state, the federal government of Nigeria will work with the Bayelsa state government in the implementation of the project.”

She said, those projects include identifying specific primary healthcare centres in Bayelsa state that would be renovated and handed over to the people of the state.

The Solicitor General of the Federation explained that the bid has two lots, which include recruitment of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) that will be responsible for the implementation and actual monitoring of the project, while lot two, belonging to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) will be for the monitoring of the projects.

Jeddy-Agba, in a message through, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu said 12 NGOs bidded under lot one, four CSOs bidded under lot two and two bids were unidentified.

It would be recalled that the United States in February signed an agreement with the Nigerian government for the return of about $1 million stolen by a former governor of Bayelsa State, the late Deprieye Alamieyeseigha.

Alamieyeseigha, who served as governor of Bayelsa state in the South-south region of Nigeria between 1999 and 2005, died in October 2015. (Nigerian Tribune)

Update news