News of these contracts created uproar in Nigeria’s Parliament and solicited calls from the opposition for the Speaker’s dismissal, the Telegraph reports.

Last month, a panel of Members of Parliament (MPs) found that standard procedures were not followed and that the tenders were not advertised. "There was no basis for arriving at the approved contract sums," the Telegraph quotes from a report released by the nine-member panel. "I think Etteh will have to step down in the end," a senior PDP official told Reuters Africa, asking not to be named. "The moral platform is weak and public opinion is strongly against her," he added.

After weeks of pressure, Patricia Etteh did resign on 30 October. Despite her eventual resignation, the affair was seen to be a major embarrassment for President Umaru Yar'Adua who did not intervene in the situation, despite his promise of zero tolerance on corruption, reports BBC News.