Ibadan Flood Audit Records ₦169.98 Million in Two Transfers to Idmon Inclined Joint Venture

The audited 2023 financial statements of Nigeria’s Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project identify two transfers to IDMON INCLINED JOINT VENTURE LTD for construction of major hydraulic structures in Lot 1A. The entries total ₦169,980,684, according to the figures in the publicly disclosed financial report.

The first entry, payment voucher PV 252, is dated 27 April 2023 and records ₦109,969,445. The second, PV 392, appears in the May/June 2023 transaction schedule and records ₦60,011,239. Both identify the same payee and Lot 1A construction purpose. The entries are evidence of recorded transfers in audited project accounts, not evidence of diversion or improper payments.

A separate World Bank procurement plan revised 9 April 2024 lists four direct-selection packages for de-scoped hydraulic structures. Their combined estimated value was US$5,722,270 and the plan’s combined 'Actual Amount' field was US$8,027,183.40, 40.28 percent above those estimates. Those dollar figures are procurement-system fields and must not be confused with payments, final outturn cost or the naira transfers in the audit.

On 21 October 2026, the World Bank announced a 48-month conditional debarment of Idmon Engineering and Construction Company Limited following a settlement under which the company admitted fraudulent bidding practices connected to the Ibadan project and another Nigerian project. The Bank described false financial and qualification information and forged documentation in bids. The Bank’s sanctions notes, updated the same day, set out the conditional release terms. A third-party reproduction of a February 2022 World Bank award notice identifies an Idmon/Inclined-named consortium as the recipient of contract NG-IUFMP-263795-CW-DIR, but TFNOS has not independently obtained the original award notice or a corporate registry extract resolving the legal identity of every similarly named entity.

The project’s February 2025 implementation completion report describes procurement and contract-management weaknesses and says some procurement cases were referred to the Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency. It rates the overall project outcome Moderately Unsatisfactory and records approximately 4.413 kilometres of outstanding channel works as of June 2024. The implementing unit challenged aspects of the Bank’s assessment, arguing that a more favourable rating was appropriate and disputing language about deliverable quality.

The open question is whether any specific Lot 1A payments or the four identified direct-selection awards were implicated in the fraudulent bidding conduct acknowledged in the later settlements. No public record reviewed so far establishes that connection. The timing of the payments predates the 2026 sanctions; later debarment does not by itself make earlier contract payments unlawful.

Before publication, the newsroom should obtain the original award notice OP00164286, contract amendments, payment certificates, corporate registry records for the venture and member companies, and responses from the World Bank, the project implementing agency and the contractors. No outreach has yet been sent. This draft remains private pending identity resolution, further verification and right of reply.