Professor Joshua Alabi

SSNIT’s $66m ICT project was approved by previous board – Prof Alabi

Graphic.com.gh Aug - 23 - 2017 , 11:58

A former board Chairman of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Professor Joshua Alabi, has distanced himself from the contract that procured a $66 million dollar software for the Trust.

According to him, the contract was signed before his appointment as board.

He said in an interview on Accra-based radio station, Citi FM, that his board however queried the cost of the software when it was brought before it for approval.

He said “what really happened was that…management went beyond the approved figure and brought it to the board for ratification and we queried it and this is in the minutes.”

“It was awarded before my board. The management went beyond the contract sum without recourse to the board; they came to the board for ratification and queried it. But then I really want to believe that the previous board really took into consideration the operations of SSNIT before awarding that contract. The management also explained to the board that there was some unforeseen expenditure that occurred and that is why they went beyond their contract sum but then we queried it because we said they should have brought it to the board for discussion and approval before awarding it,” Prof. Alabi added.

It was revealed on Tuesday that the SSNIT invested some $66 million to procure the operational business suite (OBS) software to manage its core operational activities, including the registration of a member and payment of contribution.

However, the failure of the OBS to function effectively has raised questions on whether the Trust conducted a value for money assessment on the project prior to its procurement and deployment last year.