Minister
reprimands contractors on N’Delta projects
The House of
Representatives has expressed concern over the award of a $44 million contract
to a company allegedly convicted in Switzerland.The deal was for a reme
dial
work at Escravos Channel, replacement of navigational aids, and minor dredging
in Delta State.
This came at
a hearing, following a petition by Cadrell Advocacy Centre, a non-governmental
organisation (NGO).“Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited (Dredging
Int’l) was in fact and indeed convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in
Switzerland. Awarding the contract to the said company would be contrary to the
clear provisions of Section 16(8e & f) of the Public Procurement Act,
2007,” the NGO claimed.
It said: “It
is a notorious fact that documents available at the Swiss Embassy reveal that
there was an investigation by the office of the Attorney General, Department of
International Affairs, Switzerland, that Dredging International Services
Ltd/Dredging International Services Cyprus (both subsidiaries of DEME Group
Belgium) and some officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) were alleged
to have been involved in a bribe-for-contract scandal of $20,000 and
subsequently convicted on May 2, 2012 and fined SFr1 million by the court for
bribing Nigerian officials.”
The group
further noted: “As reported in Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
(OCCRP), an international magazine, NPA awards dredging contract worth $70,000
each year to Dredging Int’l, without competitive bidding as required by
Nigerian laws. And till date, this convicted company is believed to have won
jobs worth at least N717 billion and $2.280 billion from NPA.”
Calling for
the intervention of the House, Cadrell Advocacy Centre, represented by its
Executive Director, Evans Ufeli, urged the House to “invoke her powers under
Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to
blacklist/disqualify Dredging Int’l and any convicted company from bidding for
or executing contracts in Nigeria.”
But Franklin
Peterside, Legal Adviser to Dredging Int’l, denied the company was convicted in
Switzerland. He said there was no connection between Dredging Int’l and the
convicted company registered in Cyprus. He said the petition was speculative
and that none of the company’s directors was convicted anywhere in the world.
Documents
dated March 6, 2018 and submitted to the joint House Committee on Public
Procurement and Ports, Harbour and Waterways, chaired by Wole Oke (PDP, Osun),
showed that the controversial contract was reviewed from $44,998,053.76 VAT
inclusive of $44,137,007.19 (N13,461,787,194.25) by the Bureau of Public
Enterprises (BPE).
The Managing
Director of Dredging Atlantic Limited, Adeyemo Abiodun, explained that the
company wrote the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and NPA concerning the
figures, alleging they were manipulated. He accused the regulatory bodies of
favouring Dredging Int’l, which submitted higher quotation at the opening of
the bid.
BPP’s
Director General, Mamman Ahmadu, argued that the correction in the bid should
have been made known to the company concerned. He said signing of the bid
document was not substantial enough to disregard or cancel a bid because it was
done to ensure transparency. He denied participating in the bid, saying the
awarding agency (NPA) did not send any formal invitation for the exercise.
NPA’s
Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, denied the allegation, saying the agency
maintains an anti-corruption stance in its operations. She said the Public
Procurement Act guides the NPA and that necessary legal actions have been taken
in respect of the exercise. She assured that relevant documents would be
transmitted to the joint committee.
Disturbed by
the allegations of infractions and forgery of bids submitted against the
regulatory agencies and the preferred bidder, the lawmakers requested the
original bid documents of all the companies, including CAC registration,
PENCOM, FIRS, ITF and NSITF certificates.
The summary
of the evaluation of the technical bids (involving 22 companies) showed that
some presented expired PENCOM, ITF, IRR and TCC audited accounts.According to
the report, three companies: Dredging Atlantic Limited, Dredging Int’l and
China Civil Engineering Construction Nig. Ltd (CCECC) were described as having
scored above pre-qualification threshold. CCECC, however, was not
pre-qualified.Oke, who chaired the hearing, described the allegations as “very,
very serious.”
The Minister
for Niger Delta, Usani Usani, also condemned the quality of jobs done by some
contractors. He expressed the disapproval at the weekend, while inspecting some
rural roads in Cross River State.He told the contractors: “I will not say I am
very satisfied with the extent of work. I am not a professional engineer. But
from physical sighting, I see some defects in the constructions. I call on the
contractors to correct them or we will have to take some measures.”
At the
Adim-Abaribara Road site in Adim, Biase Local Government Area, he noted: “Our
approach to road construction is according to budgetary provision rather than a
bogus job that may be tagged as ongoing without any part being completed.”
Reacting to the minister’s comments, the head of Beachstone Construction
Limited, said: “That is his observation. By and large, the road has been done,
and it is a good job. But there is always room for improvement. All issues
raised by the minister have been noted and will be addressed.”
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