Magaji conceded the responsibility when he appeared before members of House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating the “disappearance, reappearance, reinstatement and promotion of Maina’’ in Abuja on Thursday.

According to him, the reference letter made to inform the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation that Maina resumed duty was a letter sent to the Federal Civil Service Commission.

“When I observed this upon resumption from sick leave, I quickly replied to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, apologising to her about the reference letter.

“But service is an institution, whatever happened in the process of the minutes, the permanent secretary is the head of the administration and I am here to take responsibility.

“Whatever the Interior Ministry has done wrongly in accordance with the way the administrative matter has been done to the end of this matter, I take responsibility because I cannot reject.

“I am the permanent secretary, head of administration and I take responsibility for any administrative wrongdoing that Ministry of Interior has done,’’ Magaji said.

Earlier, Oyo-Ita had insisted that the ministry acted in error on the issue, stating that the letter of Maina’s reinstatement was not endorsed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the letter of posting not delivered to him.

According to her, the Ministry of Interior did not wait to get posting directives from the Head of Civil Service but it went ahead to act on advance copy issued by the Federal Civil Service Commission.

Oyo-Ita, therefore, insisted that Maina was not reinstated into the service.

“The Federal Civil Service Commission considered the administrative aspect of the case which is punishable by dismissal and the letter reinstating Maina has not been delivered.

“Therefore, he stands dismissed and was never reinstated into the service,’’ she said.

In his submission, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said that his office had commenced investigation into the letter directing Maina’s reinstatement.

Malami said that though work was in progress over Maina’s demand to be reinstated based on a court judgment, “the letter of his reinstatement may not have emanated from my office as at Oct. 5, 2017’’.

He maintained that he did not author nor sign letters purported to have emanated from his office directing the Federal Civil Service Commission to cause Maina’s reinstatement.

“The request for Maina’s reinstatement as submitted to my office by Maina’s lawyers was a work-in-progress as at Oct. 5, 2017,’’ he added.

He told the committee that he had set up a panel of enquiry headed by the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry to investigate issues revolving around the letter.

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The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Abubakar Magaji, who made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja, enjoined all Muslim faithful and Nigerians in general to extend the spiritual benefits of Ramadan, which include love, peace and sacrifice for the development of the nation.

He also urged Nigerians to support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari “in its determination and sustained efforts towards building a peaceful, united and virile nation.”

Magaji further urged all Nigerians, both at home and abroad, to use the occasion to pray for peace and unity across the nation.

The Permanent Secretary wished Nigerians a happy and joyous celebration.

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The directive, which was made available in a statement by the ministry, stated the borders should be closed from 12 midnight of Wednesday 25 of March till 12 midnight Saturday 28 or March, when the presidential election would have been concluded.

Abubakar Magaji, Permanent Secretary to the interior minister, who signed the release, noted that the closure of the borders is necessary ‘to allow for the peaceful conduct of the forthcoming national elections’.

The Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS) was also directed to ensure that foreigners do not participate in any part of the election process.

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Ezeh who disclosed this at the Bureau’s Annual Contractors, Consultants and Service Providers (CCSP) Forum of Federal Government Ministries, Agencies and Departments in Abuja, said that the greed to bid for higher paying contracts in various government organisations was responsible for the frequent submissions of fake documents by contractors.

“A lot of contractors, especially 80 per cent of the local contractors; are notorious for submitting fake documents when biding for contracts.

“We see false tax clearance certificates, PenCom certificate of compliance, false claims of personnel, false audited accounts, use of fake addresses and submission of fake bank statements.

“There are 156 companies being prosecuted because of this. Space is not enough in our prisons to accommodate all these fraudulent contractors. So, this has to change’’, he said.

He urged contractors to restrict themselves to their areas of core competence, where they have technical and financial capacity to execute a certain project.

Ezeh said that for efficient procurement practises, BPP had started the compilation of an electronic database of all contractors, consultants and service providers.

“We started the registration of CCSP as part of BPP’s drive to reform the public procurement system for better monitoring and oversight of public procurement processes.

“As at April 24, 1,495 companies have started the registration process. Out of that number, only 158 have completed their registration. By mid-June, any company that is not completely registered on our database cannot do business with any MDA,” he said.

Meanwhile, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, has urged contractors to help drive infrastructure development by making judicious use of funds provided for projects.

Anyim, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Economic Affairs, Office of the SGF, Abubakar Magaji, said contractors were important to realise the magnitude of infrastructure development needed in the country.

“We must insist on maximum returns on the resources made available to implement capital projects. Government is not unmindful of the risks being faced by contractors doing business with government.

“These risks are manifested in high interest, funding, manpower, security, delay and corruption which in the long run contribute to unnecessary increase in costs of projects.

“However, such shortcomings cannot provide excuses for non-compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act. It is, therefore, the duty of CCSP to come up with more effective strategies to contend with the risks’’, Anyim said.

The Managing Director, Heland International Limited, Oguneme Uclam, urged the Federal Government to have a centralised payment system for its contractors.

“As contractors, it is not as if it is difficult for us to obey the rules and get our papers right. The problem is delay in payment by MDAs. I would suggest that if it is possible, payment to contractors for projects executed should be taken away from MDAs.

“This will help us because the MDAs will tell you us that there is no money even when we hear that Ministry of Finance has released funds. So, when government is defaulting in its payment, you do not expect us to borrow money to pay for tax, PenCom, and other documents. These are some of the challenges we are facing,” he said.

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