Concerns Over Multi-million Dollars Cargo-tracking Contract Controversy

Ogheneuvede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

The presidency is considering reviewing the multi-million-dollar cargo-tracking contract as a result of the huge controversy the issue has generated, especially within the diplomatic circle in the past few days.

A presidency source told THISDAY in Abuja, that the action of the Ministry of Transport, which allegedly ignored due process, a court order and awarded the cargo-tracking contract recently to Antaser, a Belgium-based company not to have been registered in Nigeria for doing business, was not in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s transparent way of awarding contract.

An insider said the contract was awarded to Antaser, alongside four Nigerian companies, allegedly to be owned by some influential persons in government, who pushed for the award, while flouting a court injunction, legal advice of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, and against an executive order of President Buhari.

The President was said to have on May 10, 2021 directed the Federal Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to commence the immediate implementation of the said Advanced Cargo Declaration (ACD)/Cargo Tracking Note (CTN), which had lingered since 2011.

In a document made available to THISDAY, consequently an Executive Order was issued from the Office of the President and Commander-in-Chief on May 10, 2021, directing the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) together with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources (FMoPR) to commence the immediate implementation of the Advanced Cargo Declaration (ACD)/Cargo Tracking Note (CTN).

“On July 29, 2021, a consultancy proposal was submitted, alongside technical presentations, by Donnington Nigeria Limited and her technical partners, Vortexa UK, and DP World UAE, to the Federal Ministries of Finance, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigeria Custom Services.

“This was followed by a joint request from the FMoF and FMoPR to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for a No Objection certificate in order for them to proceed with the award of the single-source contract to Donnington Nigeria Limited, in view of the national security issues involved,’’ the senior presidency official stated.

The BPP was said to have responded that the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMoT) had made a request for a similar, “No Objection” certificate on the same services, and to avoid what they saw as possible “duplication,” the bureau had advised the FMoF and FMoPR to request for legal clarification from the FMoJ on the issue.

On January 7, 2022, the FMoPR was said to have formally sent a letter to the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ) requesting clarification and validation of the Presidential Executive Order as well as the mandate for the FMoPR.

‘’The Ministry of Justice promptly responded on January 11, 2022, with a clarification that only the Federal Ministry of Petroleum has the mandate to implement Crude Oil Services.

“And that the Federal Ministry of Finance has the mandate for Container Cargo Tracking,’’ the source added.

In the letter seen by THISDAY, which was signed by the Attorney –General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, he had further advised the BPP to proceed in accordance with the request from the two ministries.

Investigations revealed that following this clarification and validation from the FMoJ, the FMoFBP and FMoPR, the Petroleum and Finance ministries jointly and separately submitted request to the BPP to be granted a certificate of no objection to retain the services of Messr. Donnington Nig. and her technical partner Vortexa UK.

However, the BPP replied to the request for no objection on March 1, 2022, and raised few observations from the submission by the Petroleum ministry, requesting for additional documentation from Donnington Nigeria Limited.

‘’Following that, the additional documents demanded were sent to BPP on the 21st March 2022. But in spite of the earlier clarification and validation by the Attorney-General, the BPP, obviously acting the script of some influential members said to be interested in the contract, proceeded to solicit further clarification from the presidency.

“The same people have now influenced the Transport Ministry to award such a sensitive security contract to Antaser, notwithstanding the fact that there is a court injunction and not minding the fact that this unknown company, is not registered in Nigeria and will not pay a dime as tax to the Nigerian.

“I doubt if President Muhammadu Buhari is even aware that his May 10 order and the ongoing process has been truncated,” the source further stated.

Following a suit in September 2022, by Donnington, through its lawyer, Dr. Reuben Atabo, the Federal High Court Abuja had issued an injunction, for the maintenance of the status-quo, pending the determination of the substantive matter.

The Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transportation were listed as defendants in the matter.

Donnington Ltd had approached the court for protection and remedies when it sensed foul-play by some government officials.

The plaintiffs argued in the case that based on President Buhari’s approval of its proposal, it had ‘’committed funds to procure equipment, engage staff and foreign partners, ’’but the defendants were planning to now substitute it with other companies.