The House of Representatives Committee on Disability has resolved to probe into alleged racketeering and procurement breaches at the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), following complaints by stakeholders during an engagement session.

The committee, chaired by Bashiru Dawodu, explained that it would probe allegations of inflated contract awards, irregular project execution, and questionable administrative practices leading to the loss of funds running into hundreds of millions of naira.

A critical stakeholder, Malam Abdullahi Ibrahim, particularly accused the commission of betraying the vast population of the disabled in the country through the alleged malpractices.

He cited the acquisition of Point-of-Sale (POS) machines as an example, alleging that N97 million was spent on 101 machines with starter packs, far above market value.

“It is worrisome that the National Disability Commission is becoming the headquarters of corruption in the disability community,” Ibrahim said. He added that some training programmes and equipment procurements were similarly overpriced.

Responding to the allegations, lawmakers emphasised the need for documentary evidence to substantiate claims.

Nevertheless, the Executive Secretary of NCPWD, Ayuba Gufwan, said his administration had taken immediate steps to address procurement irregularities discovered after he assumed office in August 2024.

He noted that although President Bola Tinubu approved his appointment on August 6, he resumed duties two weeks later due to hospitalisation.

Gufwan claimed that upon resumption, he discovered that his predecessor had overseen the award of contracts in the interim, a practice he described as irregular.

“We convened the Procurement Tenders Board, and all contracts presided over by the former executive secretary were declared null and void.

A new procurement process was initiated for 2024,” he said.

Gufwan pledged to submit full documentation of procurement processes to the committee.