By Our Reporter
Contractors who bidded for the 400 jobs advertised in Digital Procurement Portal by the Akwa Ibom Government for youths are gnashing teeth over difficulty in opening the portal.
Recall that the digital procurement portal launched on March 14, 2025, and manned by the state Ministry of Science and Digital Economy, was aimed at increasing transparency on how government contracts are awarded, limiting favoritism, and helping indigenous contractors and vendors to compete.
The portal, which required interested contractors/vendors to register to receive an 11‑digit unique number after registration, involves construction of Commissioners’ quarters, legislative & judiciary quarters, medical village, AKBC headquarters, aviation quarters, among others.
Also read: ARISE agenda: Akwa Ibom State to Partner NBS on Accurate Data
Registration in the portal involved verifying identity using NIN (National Identification Number), VIN (Voter Identification Number), bank details, among others.
Straightnews online discovered that most contractors who borrowed money from banks, friends, relations and other financial institutions are in a pitiable state as some of their lenders have started to disturb them for repayment.
Investigation by the newspaper shows that Akwa Ibom Governor, Pastor Umoh Eno had directed contractors in the state to register and bid for jobs in the portal.
The contractors, according to our investigation, mobilised funds and paid to Finance and General Purposes Committee (FGPC) which sent the contractual documents to Board of Internal Revenue for verification.
After more than one week, our investigation shows, Àkwa Ibom Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS) forwarded the said documents to FGPC for issuance of certificate to eligible contractors.
Despite meeting all requirements and filing annual returns, the contractors are facing significant challenges with the procurement portal.
A contractor, who spoke with Straightnews newspaper reporter on condition of anonymity, said the Know Your Business (KYB) verification process is consistently failing, citing incorrect information regarding company status, director listings, and activity status.
He further complained that Ministry of Science portal poses inaccurate Company Status as a problem to contractors, thus making them to final registration with glitches.
“Despite being active and compliant with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the portal incorrectly flags companies as inactive,’’ he lamented.
Moreover, Director Listing Discrepancies is another problem. ‘‘Directors listed on the CAC portal are not recognized by the procurement portal, causing verification failures,’’ he complained.
‘’Annual Return Compliance is headache too. Contractors who have filed their annual returns are still experiencing issues with the KYB verification process,’’ the contractor fumed.
‘‘All relevant documentation and evidence are readily available on the CAC portal, demonstrating compliance with regulatory requirements. However, the procurement portal’s automated system continues to flag these companies incorrectly.
‘‘Support Line Ineffectiveness causes delay too. The support line provided on the portal has proven to be unhelpful, leaving contractors frustrated and without recourse. This lack of effective support is hindering the registration process and ultimately affecting the state’s procurement activities,’’ he added to their woes.
The contractor stated ‘‘To bid for a job, depending on the category and amount involved, a contractor must have spent between N1.5 million and N2 million taxes on verification and sundry charges to the state and Federal agencies.’’
Despite numerous telephone calls and text messages, the state Commissioner for Science and Digital Economy, Dr. Frank Ekpenyong neither answer nor respond to any.
