President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, have approved a huge national security-sensitive maritime contract to a medical company in a process the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) says is “embarrassing” and illegal, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation has revealed.
The development has unsettled the Buhari government, with senior officials sparring and trading accusations of bad faith and the BPP complaining of “procedural lapses” in carefully worded memos that only stopped short of directly accusing Mr Buhari and Mr Amaechi of lawlessness
Our investigation is based on several confidential government memos and extensive interviews with insiders familiar with the matter.
The procurement agency said the contract was awarded in clear breach of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
The International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) scheme is an electronic cargo verification system that monitors the shipment of seaborne cargo and enables a real-time generation of vital data on ship and cargo traffic in and out of Nigeria, a government memo says, emphasising national security and economic benefits.
An operation of the scheme was initially in effect following a President Umaru Yar-Adua-Goodluck Jonathan era contract between the Nigerian Ports Authority and an operator, TPMS-Antaser-Afrique, which was abruptly terminated by former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in October 2011.
The controversy surrounding the termination of the contract ended up in a court of arbitration before attracting the interest of the anticorruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala then said the scheme was hurting businesses. In the short period it was initially implemented, barely a year, more than 40 million euros was generated in revenue, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said. It is unclear if that revenue was remitted to government in full.
However, the government now finds the scheme desirable again. A transport ministry memo of August 26, 2021, to the Bureau of Public Procurement says that non-engagement of the scheme would continue to cause the country loss of revenue, worsen the country’s maritime security situation, and allow alteration of cargoes and under-declaration.
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