A document released by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) indicates that the contract for the development and implementation of a new software for the company cost $34 million and not the $66 million as widely reported earlier.

The project was to automate all the core processes in the administration of pension.

According to the statement, the project varied leading to the unplanned extra charges which later became $66 million and subsequently $72 million in the course of four years, from 2012 to 2016.

The NPP led government launched an investigation into the contract that awarded the Operational Business Suite (OBS) project.

The contract which was awarded during the tenure of the NDC government was for a period of eighteen (18) months.

However, there has been a desperate attempt by two NDC gurus to distance themselves from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) $66 million software scandal.

Immediate past board chairman of SSNIT under the erstwhile Mahama administration, Prof. Alabi, had accused the previous board headed by Kwame Peprah from whom he took over in 2013 – granted the approval for the contract. Interestingly, Mr Peprah has also denied paying any money to the contractor, putting the blame on the immediate past Director General, Ernest Thompson.

Following the SSNIT scandal, the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) is investigating officials of SSNIT for their alleged involvement in the acquisition of the OBS software.