….Official Documents Raise Serious Questions Over ₦62.55 Billion Contract Variation
- By Demola Atobaba
Classified official documents that raise serious concerns over what appears to be an attempt to loot the Ogoni Cleanup Fund or improperly commit more than ₦62.55 billion in additional funds from the Ogoni Cleanup Programme to two projects that official records indicate are already substantially completed have been obtained.
A HYPREP Weekly Report for the week ending 22 June 2026 shows that the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration (CEER) had attained an overall completion level of 96.64%.
Specifically, the report indicates that construction works had reached 96.78%, electricity 96.46%, fittings and installations 96.66%, landscaping and tree planting 98.76%, and finishes 96.58%.
The same report identifies only finishing activities and routine site works, including installation of lightning protection and earthing systems, perimeter CCTV works, external landscaping, concrete pavement, solar street lights, painting of the main auditorium, and tiling of the main entrance wall. It also identifies delayed payment of fluctuation costs as one of the project’s challenges.
Yet, in what appears to be a startling contradiction, we have intercepted a memorandum submitted to the Ministerial Tenders Board seeking anticipatory approval for massive variations to both the CEER and the 100-Bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital contracts.
According to the memorandum:
1. A variation of ₦42,657,567,989.63 is being sought for the CEER project, increasing the contract value from ₦41,472,263,848.06 to ₦84,129,831,837.69, together with a 24-month extension.
2. A further variation of ₦19,897,282,286.43 is being sought for the 100-Bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital, increasing the contract value from ₦18,308,463,255.04 to ₦38,205,745,541.47, also with a 24-month extension.
The questionable memorandum attributes the proposed variations to exchange-rate fluctuations and alleged additional requirements said to be necessary to meet international standards.
These documents raise disturbing questions that deserve immediate answers from HYPREP.
How can a project officially reported by HYPREP as 96.64% completed suddenly require an additional ₦42.66 billion and another 24 months for completion?
What specific new works justify virtually doubling the contract value at the final stage of execution?
Why were these alleged additional requirements not captured in the original contract scope approved by the Federal Executive Council?
Where are the independent technical assessments, bills of quantities, engineering evaluations, and procurement justifications that support these extraordinary increases?
The people of Ogoni deserve complete transparency.
Across Ogoniland, people are expressing deep concern over what appears to be an attempt to commit enormous additional sums from the Ogoni Cleanup Fund under circumstances that demand the highest level of public scrutiny.
More than ₦62.55 billion is not a trivial amount. Those resources could instead revive dilapidated primary and secondary schools across Ogoniland, equip healthcare facilities, provide potable water, empower youths, improve rural infrastructure, and accelerate environmental restoration in communities that have suffered decades of neglect and pollution.
HYPREP should remember that there is blood on every naira in the Ogoni Cleanup Fund. These resources belong to the people of Ogoni and must be used solely for environmental restoration and sustainable development.
The brazen rape of our blood-soaked resources would be devastating. The Ogoni Cleanup Fund was established to heal the wounds of decades of environmental injustice, not to become a conduit for questionable expenditures at the expense of the very people it was created to serve.
The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the HYPREP Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Trust Fund Incorporated, the HYPREP Governing Council, the Federal Ministry of Environment, and every relevant department and agency of government with statutory oversight responsibilities should immediately halt any consideration, approval, endorsement, or disbursement relating to these proposed contract variations until a transparent, independent, and comprehensive technical, financial, and procurement review has been concluded.
Any attempt to approve or release these funds without full public disclosure and rigorous scrutiny would amount to a grave betrayal of the trust reposed in these institutions and a profound disservice to the people of Ogoni, whose environmental restoration and future wellbeing depend on the prudent management of the Ogoni Cleanup Fund. This process must not be allowed to proceed under a cloud of unanswered questions and serious public concern.
The EFCC and every other relevant oversight institution are urged to immediately investigate these proposed contract variations, examine whether due process has been strictly complied with, and determine whether the requested increases are justified by the facts.
The Federal Ministry of Environment and HYPREP also owe Nigerians a comprehensive public explanation of the rationale for these extraordinary variations and the apparent disparity between the official project completion report and the proposed contract increases.
The people of Ogoniland have waited for decades for environmental justice. The Ogoni Cleanup Programme was never intended to become a source of controversy over public expenditure.
Ogoniland deserves better. Nigeria deserves accountability. Every kobo of the Ogoni Cleanup Fund must be protected and expended transparently, prudently, and in the best interest of the people it was established to serve.
