Eromosele Abiodun writes that to restore investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s fledging maritime sector, the allegation by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, illegally awarded a contract to a healthcare company and the allege move to restore INTELS pilotage contract through the backdoor must be investigated and a decisive action taken by President Muhammadu Buhari
Six months after THISDAY’s exclusive report on the Lagos, Port Harcourt (Bonny) and Warri channel management contract scandal, it has emerged that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is again enmeshed in another contract scandal.
This time, it is the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) that is accusing Amaechi of illegally awarding a maritime contract to a healthcare company. In carrying out its constitutional duty, the BPP in a memo denounced the move by the Minister to award the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) contract to a healthcare company, MedTech Scientific Limited, in partnership with Rozi International Nigeria Limited, a property development company.
The procurement agency described the process as embarrassing and illegal, adding that the contract was awarded in clear breach of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
THISDAY gathered that Amaechi relied on anticipatory approval from President Muhammadu Buhari to award the said contract, citing national security and economic benefits.
The 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.
The scheme was first muted during the administration of President Umaru Yar-Adua. However, the contract between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and an operator, TPMS-Antaser-Afrique was abruptly terminated by former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in October 2011, on suspicion of corruption and breach of extant laws.
The Ministry of Transportation, in a memo dated August 26, 2021 to the Bureau of Public Procurement said Nigeria will continue to lose revenue, experience worsening maritime security and allow alteration of cargoes and under-declaration if the contract was not awarded.
According to the document, the Minister of Transportation, on September 11, 2020, sought the approval of the BPP to conduct a restricted/selected tendering exercise to engage agents or partners for the implementation of the cargo tracking note scheme.
The BPP, it was learnt, rejected the selective tender request because of the need to regain international confidence, and, instead, asked the Transportation Ministry to conduct international competitive bidding (ICB) for the project.
The BPP, in a memo dated October 22, 2020, stated, “This (ICB) was to ensure that experienced international firms with high reputation, integrity, and capacity to deliver participate in the procurement process.”
The BPP noted in a separate memo that the Transportation Ministry on August 26, 2021, reverted to it with an approval dated August 19, 2021 from the president to adopt a direct procurement in favour of MedTech Scientific Limited, in partnership with Rozi International Nigeria Limited, a property development company.
Direct procurement is single sourcing of a contractor with no room for competition either in a selective exercise, which invites interests from a restricted number of companies based on experience and capacity, or an open exercise, which is publicly advertised for companies to express interest and compete.
The BPP said the ministry did not provide the basis for picking MedTech and Rozi International to partner for the project.
But the Ministry of Transportation said the companies selected to participate in the selective tendering process were chosen on the basis of, “proven records of experience, competency, and reliability to execute the services.”
It was gathered that Amaechi allegedly handpicked MedTech Scientific Limited, in partnership with Rozi International Nigeria Limited, out of the firms selected to compete for the contract.
He then sought and obtained President Buhari’s anticipatory approval to engage MedTech without any competition, a development stakeholders said was inconsistent with the public procurement law.
“This procedure is clearly against the spirit and intent of the Public Procurement Act 2007 and if challenged has the potential to embarrass the government,” the BPP said in another memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari.
The BPP raised a question about the required security clearance from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The BPP also told the Chief of Staff to advise the president to rescind his anticipatory approval granted to the Transportation Minister in order to ensure an international competitive bidding exercise that is not compromised and to protect the president from embarrassment.
