World bank places restrictions on MD of Nigerian IT Company, Soft Tech for 5 years

SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd, a Nigerian information technology solution based in Nigeria, and its Managing Director, Mr. Isah Kantigi, have been sanctioned by the World Bank for alleged corrupt conduct.

 In an article published on World Bank, website, this information was shared with the public.

The firm, which was encompassed in the National Social Safety Nets Project, was debarred for 50 months while the managing director was sanctioned for 60 months.

What the Bank is asserting

The statement read in part, “The World Bank Group today announced the 50-month debarment of SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd, an information technology solutions company established in Nigeria, and the 60-month debarment of its managing director, in relation to corrupt practices as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.

SoftTech and Mr. Isah Salihu Kantigi, are presently ineligible to join in World Bank Group-funded projects and operations. According to the World Bank, the debarments are the consequence of settlement treaties in which the corporation and Mr. Kantigi concede to their commitment for the underlying sanctionable manner.

Based on the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions, which was upheld on April 9, 2010, Mr. Kantigi’s and SoftTech’s debarments are both eligible for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks (MDBs).

What you should know

Mr. Kantigi made “appreciation” payments to project authorities as an individual consultant, according to the events of the prosecution, as a cost for winning a Bank-funded consultation aid contract.

Mr. Kantigi also acquired a contract with other individual specialists, allowing them to make similar payments to project officials.

According to the World Bank’s Consultancy Guidelines, this is an illegal action.

Mr. Kantigi, who is also the company’s Managing Director, directed SoftTech to act as the conduit through which he and the other individual consultants made payments to project officials. SoftTech collected various payments from individual consultants into its bank accounts and subsequently moved the monies to the project officials’ personal accounts, practically fulfilling them.

The World Bank asserted, “This consists of a corrupt practice under the World Bank’s Anti-Corruption Guidelines. The compensation approvals provide for reduced periods of debarment in light of Mr. Kantigi’s and SoftTech’s cooperation and acknowledgment of the misconduct.”

The Bank added, “As constraints for release from sanction under the terms of the settlement agreements, Mr. Kantigi dedicates to strict adherence of corporate standards, and undergoing training that demonstrates a commitment to personal integrity and business ethics, while SoftTech commits to implementing a code of conduct that reflects the relevant principles set out in the World Bank Group Integrity Compliance Guidelines and a corporate ethics training program."

Any partner that Mr. Kantigi or SoftTech is in association with, directly or indirectly, will also be required to generate a Code of Conduct and corporate standard coaching program, according to the World Bank.