Two Nigerian companies, Beulah Universal Link Resources Limited and Bluestream Systems and Device Limited have been debarred, following accusation of fraudulent practices arising from a joint bid for an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project.
The companies were joint bidders for the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project in Oyo State, Nigeria, but the AfDB’s Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption discovered some infractions in their bid.
Note that the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project was financed under the African Development Fund, which is owned by AfDB Group, while the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption of AfDB is mandated to prevent, deter and investigate allegations of corruption, fraud and other sanctionable practices in Bank Group-financed operations.
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During an investigation, the fraudulent practices were uncovered by the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption. This made AfDB order the exclusion of both companies from AfDB-financed projects and other projects financed by both local and international banks.
The result of the investigation led to the debarment of Beulah Universal Link Resources Limited and Bluestream Systems and Device Limited for 36 months and 12 months respectively, preventing them from participating in the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project.
While disclosing the development, AfDB said, “While participating in a tender for construction and rehabilitation of water reservoirs contracts, the companies misrepresented their qualifications for the contracts.
“The debarments render Beulah Universal Link Resources Limited and Bluestream Systems and Device Limited ineligible to participate in bank-financed projects during the respective debarment periods.”
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It was also stated that, “Additionally, the 36-month debarment of Beulah Universal Link Resources Limited qualifies for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks under the Agreement for Mutual Recognition 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.”
Two companies but repeatedly names three.