The board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) approved the payment of $35 million (about N20 billion) to the company that won the controversial contract shortly before it was dissolved last week by President Muhammadu Buhari, The Nation has learnt.
The payment, it was gathered, was made by the NPA, even as a legal battle over the contract was pending in court.
The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) told reporters yesterday that the contractors had vanished.
The amount is for two quarters – $20.5 million for the last quarter of last year and $14.5 million for this year’s first quarter.
The contract, billed to last for two years, is worth about N20 billion.
The nod for the contract, a source close to the Federal Ministry of Transport alleged, was given by the former President Goodluck Jonathan to the NPA, which bypassed the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
The BPP Act of 2007 empowers the agency to monitor public procurement, harmonise government policies and practices by regulating, setting standards and developing the legal framework and professional capacity for public procurement.
The award of the Calabar port dredging, an official who pleaded not to be named, is one of the avenues used by the previous administration to siphon public funds through the NPA.
Sources at the BPP said six firms – Jan De Nul, Dredging International, Westminster Dredging, China Harbour Engineering, Lagos Channel Management (CCM) and Van Oord – participated in the procurement after fulfilling the pre-qualification.
The exercise, a source said, was nullified and a new one ordered, following an alleged attempt by Ministry of Transport and NPA officials to manipulate the process.
Said the source: “The company that was awarded the contract by the NPA never participated in any procurement before it got it. The last procurement for the capital dredging of the Calabar Channel took place in 2010.
“Soon after the commencement of the process, NPA stopped the exercise, citing Section 28 of the Procurement Act. That law stipulates that a procuring entity may reject bids before the acceptance of a bid, without incurring any liability to the bidder and cancel the procurement in the public interest, without incurring any liability.
“But the Act does not say that NPA or the Federal Government can award the contract unilaterally, even if they reject or cancel the bids earlier submitted and that is where public concern becomes necessary.
“The Act was also established before the Jonathan administration came into power to ensure the application of fair, competitive, transparent, value-for- money standards and practices and the attainment of transparency, cost effectiveness and professionalism in the public sector procurement system.
“The question is, where was transparency and accountability in the award of the contract? How many companies were invited to submit bids and went through the procurement proceedings before the contract was approved by the then President? Where is the record of the procurement proceedings? Where is the input of Nigeria Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management, the Nigeria Bar Association and other critical stakeholders required by the Act?”
But one of the three Executive Directors of NPA, a senior official of the ministry alleged, was ordered to report to the office from abroad about two weeks ago, to perfect the documents for the release of the fund to the contractor.
“Of this amount, $7.5 million (about N1.5 billion) was paid before the board was dissolved last week and $27.5 million (about N5.5 billion) balance is billed for payment.
“One of its Executive Directors was asked to report to the office from the United Kingdom about two weeks ago to pay NPA’s equity contribution of N120 million in Calabar Channel Management Limited, which was incorporated two years ago for securing the capital and maintenance dredging of the Calabar Port.”
Read admission News here
Calabar Channel Management Limited is a partnership between NPA and Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited. The company is said to be owned by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator.
The decision to recall the ED was initiated by a former Minister in the Jonathan administration. His aim was to strengthen the hold of the contractor on the job and safeguard his interest in Calabar Port before another Minister and a new board would be constituted by President Buhari, The Nation learnt.
The source said: “The former minister and the NPA board took advantage of the delay caused by President Buhari in dissolving boards of parastatals to hatch their plan for the payment of the contractor and NPA’s share capital in the firm.
“These bills were not paid since last August, when the contract was awarded. It was the refusal of a former NPA Managing Director (MD) to make the payments or represent the NPA on the board of Calabar Channel Management that cost him his job.
“The former MD had cited the irregularities in the award of the contract and weary of falling foul of the law, given that there is a pending suit challenging the contract. NPA is the fourth defendant in the suit and is being represented by a legal team.
“Officials of our ministry were shocked that a former NPA chairman, who was the first to condemn the attempt to manipulate the maintenance dredging contract in favour of the contractor, did not raise a voice against the decision to make these payments.
“The Chairman had an alarm then that the consortium has no reference whatsoever of previous jobs done. They were alien to the Calabar channel project and did not even take part in the bids of 2010 and the later procurement.’’
“The consortium was not prequalified and did not pass through the selection like other companies. It, therefore, follows that the presidential approval for the appointment of the consortium led by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited to enter into a joint venture with NPA, which culminated in the agreement to form Calabar Channel was obtained without following due process,” the source said.
This is the fourth controversial attempt at making Calabar River navigable. Two of them occurred under the Jonathan administration.
Efforts to get the Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs of NPA, Mr Musa Ilya on phone proved abortive. His phone was off and he did not reply a text message sent to him on the issue.
Besides, CCM officials were also not available.
No comments:
Post a Comment