Auctioneers dismiss favouritism allegations against EFCC on e-auctioning

The leadership of the Nigeria Association of Auctioneers has dismissed some reports making around that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was nepotistic in the way it handled electronic auctioning.

The association also lambasted those whom it described as “faceless auctioneers”, urging the Nigerian populace to disregard any allegations against the anti-graft agency.

It was learnt that the EFCC recently concluded its automated selection of auctioneers who will handle disposal of some house items and property forfeited to the federal government.

After the digital selection carried out by the anti-graft agency, some auctioneers cried out that they were schemed out of the process with the digital process, arguing that the commission should have continued normal paper selection process.

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But in a statement Sunday evening, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of Nigeria Association of Auctioneers, King Alfred Papapreye Diete-Spiff Seriyai II, Amayanabo of Twon-Brass, said the allegations are unfounded.

“In the history of the N.A.A we have not witnessed this level of pettiness and mischief,” the BoT chairman and traditional said.

He added, “One of the hallmarks of the N.A.A is professionalism, competence we know is a more critical marker than regionalism, and fortunately the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and Procurement Act, does not recognize Federal Character for Procurement / Disposal, it recognizes competence.

“Instead of presenting the requisite expertise, a few auctioneers want to hide behind Federal Character. We wonder where the Federal Character crooners were when only one person was picked from the multitude for Police, CAC and other MDA’s disposal.

“In this Country we have had a popular family who were all accountants, if both Father and Son qualified for the job on merit, does that mean it is nepotism?

“Nepotism is when you give only your family member or close relative a job, and to the best of our knowledge the EFCC gave qualified auctioneers who met their criteria a job.

“f both parties registered their business as separate entities, were interviewed as separate entities and were selected on merit, then there is no law against this.

“It is pertinent to note that the commission has handled several procurement matters and has done well in creating opportunities for the marginalized and underrepresented groups (Women and Youths) under the United Nations policy on Affirmative Procurement in its procurement process.

“It is also important to state that the procurement process did not limit participation to any region, so it should be obvious to any observer that all regions were considered but only the competent auctioneers were selected for the e-Auction while others were given other items to be auctioned to the general public.

“We use this opportunity to laud the EFCC for embracing technology by adopting the e-Auction for some of its sales and giving Nigerians all over access to participate.”

Also, in an interview with Daily Trust, the spokesman of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, explained that the anti-graft agency chose electronic selection process to make it more transparent, adding that things have moved beyond paper work in the digital age.