The Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed has compensated a female food vendor, Hajiya Aisha Ibrahim who cooked food worth N13 million after securing a fake contract.
The governor’s intervention followed a recent viral video of the woman who was in tears while narrating how she was scammed by a man who offered her a cooking contract worth N13 million.
The governor in his intervention following the viral video, approved the payment of N7.5 million to the woman, being the total cost of the food items and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by the vendor.
The governor further ordered the immediate distribution of the food to the needy.
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Aisha’s ordeal
Aisha went viral on social media recently following a fake contract she got to prepare food for 9,600 people.
The woman was scammed to prepare food for a three-day training to be held by a non-governmental organisation across three local government areas in the state.
Narrating her experience with reporters in her restaurant, Hajiya Aisha said she was approached by a man who gave her a contract to supply food to 9,600 people in Bauchi, Alkaleri, and Kirfi local government areas of the state.
According to her, the said contractor, a man, had assured that the contract will be signed soon, and that she will not be put in danger.
“He said that the food will be given to three local governments; Bauchi, Alkaleri, and Kirfi. He insisted that I continue with the contract because the agreement has not been signed, but I will be given a contract agreement document when it is signed,” Aisha said.
Aisha said she accepted because she was aware of how nongovernmental organisations operate, adding that most often, they get paid after the services must have been provided.
According to her, she had to borrow money to cook the food with the hope of settling the debt after the contractor must have settled her.
Aisha said she continued to follow the man’s orders and called her employees to join hands in preparing the food.
She said when they finished preparing the food, she called the man (contractor) with the intention of knowing who will receive the food, only for her to be told to wait as he was still waiting for instructions.
“After 1 o’clock in the afternoon, I did not hear from him, so I went to his office. He asked me to wait as he was waiting for instructions. After 3 pm, I started calling him several times, but he was not picking my call.
“When we went to his office with my husband at around five in the evening, we were told that he was not there. Since then, he refused to pick up my phone call until 6pm,” she said.
Hajiya A’isha said she was very shocked by the incident because she borrowed people’s money to do the contract and when she couldn’t find the man, she went on social media to ask for help.
Governor Bala to the rescue
Her video appeal caught the attention of the Bauchi State governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, and he took steps to quickly wipe her tears.
She said, “The Commissioner of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajiya Hajara Yakubu Wanka, called me last (Wednesday, June 26) where she said that the governor who saw my video on the internet has directed her to settle the bill and give out the food to the needy.”
The commissioner in a release she issued said after due diligence that was carried out by the ministry, they paid the sum of N7,516,000 for the unclaimed food and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by the food vendor, after an initial fact finding investigation.
“The food vendor, Aisha Ibrahim of Northern Varieties Restaurant, Bauchi in the online video said that she had an agreement, which was later found out not to be duly signed, by one Babajide Aiyegbusi, an Admin and Logistics Officer with Malaria Consortium (An International NGO) for the supply of tea break and lunch for participants in an upcoming sensitisation training organised by the organisation he represents for three (3) LGAs of Bauchi, Alkaleri, and Kirfi in the Southern Senatorial Zone, Bauchi State.
In the viral video, the food vendor was seen crying while displaying the packaged food, and frantically appealing to well meaning Nigerians to come to her aid by rescuing her through buying the cooked food to enable her pay the debt she incurred in the course of trying to meet up with the unsigned catering obligation.
“In a twist of fate, the Executive Governor of Bauchi State directed the state Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to pay for the food and to immediately distribute same to the needy members of the public particularly hospitals, poor & vulnerable persons, orphanages and other needy clusters within the Bauchi Metropolis”, the statement said.
The statement added that the commissioner and her team immediately implemented the directive, by paying the food vendor approved amount being the total cost of the food items and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by the vendor and for the immediate distribution of the food to the aforementioned clusters as instructed by the governor.
The statement said that the food vendor’s claim is still being vigorously investigated by security operatives, while the commissioner noted with concern that the case is not the first of such occurrence in the state.
She urged parties in any transactions to always articulate their dealings in a contractual agreement before commencing providing services.
The commissioner called for more sensitisation and strengthening of communication strategy by all government MDAs, organised private sector and traditional institutions for proper understanding and communication among all parties in any business undertaking or any other mutual contractual interaction in order to avoid and forestall future recurrence as such.
She also appealed to the media to champion the advocacy of the need for parties to understand contractual agreement.
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