Against the background of a viral video making rounds on the social media space in the early morning of Wednesday 26th June 2024, showing a Bauchi based food vendor in tears, crying out helplessly in respect of a failed catering service obligation to an unsigned contract which caught the attention of Governor of Bauchi State, Sen. Bala Mohammed, the Governor has Instructed the State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management ascertain the claim and help the vendor.
A press release signed by the Commissioner, Hajiya Hajara Yakubu Wanka and made available to newsmen, said that after due diligence that was carried out, the Ministry paid the sum of Seven Million, Five Hundred and Sixteen Thousand Naira (N7,516,000) for the unclaimed food and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by the food vendor, after an initial fact finding investigation.
It could be recalled that the food vendor Aisha Ibrahim of Northern Varieties Restaurant Bauchi in an online viral video said that she had an agreement which was later found out to be not 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 fo an upcoming training program, to three (3) LGAs of Bauchi, Alkaleri, and Kirfi in the Southern Senatorial Zone of 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, Governor of Bauchi State directed the State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to pay for the food and to immediately distribute it to the needy members of the public particularly in Hospitals, Poor and Vulnerable Persons, Orphanages and other needy clusters within the Bauchi Metropolis.
The Statement further revealed that the Honorable Commissioner and her team of staff immediately implemented the directive, by paying the food vendor a total sum of Seven Million, Five Hundred and Sixteen Thousand Naira (N7,516,000) 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 Governo Bala Mohammed.
The statement further disclosed that the food vendor's claim is still being vigorously investigated by security operatives, while the Hon Commissioner noted with concern that this case is not the first of such occurrence in the State, and therefore urged parties in any transactions to always articulate their dealings in a contractual agreement before providing services.
The Commissioner further called for urgent need for more sensitization and strengthening of communication strategy by all Government MDAs, Organised Private sector and Traditional Institutions for proper understanding and communication between all parties in any business undertaking or any other mutual contractual interaction in order to 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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