Israel Bulus, Kaduna
A Nigerian contractor has raised the alarm, accusing the former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Managing Director, of Nigerian Ports Authority of allegedly being involved in a multi-billion naira contracts scandal amounting to N57 billion.
The contractor, Mr. Emmanuel Otokpa, told journalists at a press conference in Kaduna on Monday that the contract process which commenced in 2022, through the AGF office in Abuja, has left him and his family hungry and dried for selling off all his properties pursuing the contract.
According to him, the contracts awardee team, conducted what he described as “In-house Biden” because it belongs to Minister Abubakar Malami, adding that costing were done and all other requirements necessary for the award were met and approved but the money was siphoned and could not get to the contractors till date.
The all-important projects were awarded to companies as some of the benefiting schools including Kebbi State Arugungu College of Medicine, Kaduna State University and others could not be executed to date due to the alleged contract diversion and siphoning of the money.
Earlier, the contractor said the contract sum was reviewed down to N25 billion in 2024, under the current NPA Managing Director Alh. Dansofo Abubakar pleaded, based on advice by EFCC after a petition was written against them over extensive delay in releasing the award letter.
However, it was later increased to almost N30 billion after cost and payment of bill of quantity, according to Mr. Otokpa.
The contractor narrated that “In 2022, Nafiyu Luga, the Special Adviser to SGF Abubakar Malami, and Hon. Hamza Yakubu, the Personal Assistant to SGF, Abubakar Malami “Called me to organize a construction company so that they can give me a job from Nigeria Port Authority”.
“And I told him how sure are you. They say that it’s 100% sure and that the MD of NPA is from their state, in Kebbi and the contract belongs to Malami.
“And of course, based on what he told me, I swam into action and I selected the best companies for the job because, in the construction industry or federal government procedure, there are some ethical requirements that must be met, like tax compliance, before you can be given contracts. So I have to go and select the best company that has the highest requirements and has the bigger share capital.
“And I brought the companies, they checked, verified, and okayed them. And they say before we begin to move to NPA, I am going to do a contract bidden, a procedure that must be done. And they told me that this one is in-house bidden because the contract belongs to the minister, Abubakar Malami, the former SGF, and said that’s okay.
“I am going to bring a5 million as the cost of the bidden process and others and say okay with it but ask them to reduce it because I cannot go and tell the ssub-contractingcompanies to bring money because in Nigeria today.
“If you tell anyone go and bring money before anything come on board, they’ll begin to look at you somehow because a lot of companies have been bidden for a job and have not been getting them
“So I say for that reason, bring it down so that I can be able to do it on behalf of the other companies first. By the time they begin to see the reality, they will begin to support any of the assistance in the process.
“And I was asked to bring N1 million. That means you’re the one that’s going to sponsor everything, they ask and I say okay, let me give one million. But I am giving you 500,000 first when we go there because I will pay for the flight ticket, they say that I am the one that is going to take responsibility for everything.
“They say that I’ll also be given them money during the bidden process, for doing everything, and I say okay, no problem”, he narrated.
He also said that before they arrived in Lagos he called one of the companies “You have to pay the flight, and I booked for a Spice Hotel in Ireland, if anybody knows Lagos, where we lodged. That was on July 25th, and then the following day, the other contractors flew in from Port Harcourt and some of the states”.
According to him, before the flight ticket to Lagos the former Justice minister, Malami gave them recommendations. “You can see his signature here, it was signed, and then we landed in Lagos. “When we landed in Lagos, the following day, some of the other contractors met and then I introduced them to the NPA”.
“And then when we were at the NPA, they were happy that something is about coming to their table because they have been doing bidden.
“We submitted acknowledgment to all the companies, you can see the original, the day we submitted these original acknowledgments
for the recommendation that the company took to Lagos. You can see it’s stamped, we acknowledged it.
“I told the company, I was not ready for this before but as you say I continue, I have no option then to begin to dip into my accounts and begin to go into it.”, he stated.
The contractor’s lawyer Bola Aidi (SAN) & CO, had earlier written a petition against the delay in the release of the contract award letter and two reminders but the letter was not released to his client Mr. Otokpa to date.
According to him, all the relevant Government agencies including EFCC were copied with the petition but yet to come out with any solutions on the contract letter of award.
He said the manipulation became obvious to him when one of the companies called in and informed him that NPA had started releasing the award letter without him knowing.
“You know some of the subcontractors have some people as an insider that gives them information and I call the Hon. Hamza Yakubu and tell him they have started collecting the award later and I equally called the Nafiyu Yakubu Luga, the senior SA to ex-SGF, and told him too.
“And when he called the NPA they told the Yakubu Hamza and Yakubu now called me that truly the award is ready
and that is going the following morning when I should book the flights I booked for flight, and I told him if he got to Lagos the moment he collected the award letter he should let me know.
“He should send me a copy
of the award later so that I can be able to tell the companies, because at that time
The outgoing government was close, so when he got to Lagos when he collected the award later I never knew that the SA to Malami Nafiyu Luga told the PA not to tell me yet”, he said.
“I was in Abuja at that time when he came to Abuja, then he went back to Zaria from Zaria, they now asking him to bring the award later to Kano, and when he got to Kano he called me that he needed money. I asked have you collected the award later, and that was when he now to me yes but the Nafiyu Yakubu Luga said he should bring the award later to Kano.
He said Malami’s wife took it personally when brought into the contract matter, against the SA, and insisted the contract letter must be submitted to Mr. Otokpa but was later cautioned to stay away by family members.
He therefore called the presidency and other relevant authorities to intervene in making sure the award letter was released and given to him to execute the contracts for the benefit of Nigerians, saying it was not out for antantagonism or fighting anyone.
End
