The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi wanted to award a N3.7 billion rail security contract to a newly operational company with about N84.9 million turnover, according to a leaked memo.
Following the attack on the Kaduna-Abuja rail track on Monday by terrorists which left at least eight persons killed, while several others were left injured or abducted, Amaechi visited the scene of the attack.
During the visit, the minister addressed the incident and called on the security agency in charge of providing the surveillance equipment to do so quickly, so that other attackers of this nature will be forestalled.
Series of tweets were shared by the Minister, which only reiterated his view on the incident.
My thoughts & prayers are with the victims of this dastardly attack & their families.
Again, I call on all Agencies that need to give approvals for the surveillance equipment & sensors for effective monitoring of the rail tracks to do so quickly, to forestall attacks like this. pic.twitter.com/jUwH8YMXE8
— Chibuike R. Amaechi (@ChibuikeAmaechi) March 29, 2022
A leaked memo The Punch said it obtained, showed minutes of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which was dated September 24, 2021, and reportedly contained Amaechi’s proposal that a company, Mogjan Nigeria Limited, be awarded the contract for installation of security equipment along the Abuja-Kaduna rail track, worth N3.7 billion.
The FEC meeting was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari was attending the United Nations General Assembly at the time.
According to the said memo, Amaechi in his presentation at the meeting said that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) had examined the procurement process and issued the contract a certificate of no objection and that the project would be funded by the ministry’s N71.4 billion budget.
Amaechi further requested that the council “approve the award of contract for the procurement and installation of electronic surveillance system and interrogation unit on the Abuja (Idu)-Kaduna (Rigasa) 200km railway monitoring rail intrusion detection system and emergency response system in favour of Messrs Mogjan Nigeria Limited/Cagewox Dot Net Limited in the sum of N3,780,827,410.66 inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a completion period of four months”.
However, per The Punch, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) rejected the proposal presented by Amaechi because they “had doubts about the capability of a company”.
“We had doubts about the capability of a company, which was formed less than two years prior and had no track record of handling a contract of N3.7bn or a contract on surveillance systems. The company was also to be paid upfront. Our investigation pointed to a conflict of interest,” a presidential source was quoted to have said.
Following this, after a background check on the company carried out by The Cable, it was discovered that the company was registered on September 29, 1999 and has Godwin Momoh, Chioma Momoh, and George Momoh (Who are mother, father and son of the same family) as board of directors, but appears to have commenced operations only just in August 2019.
Also, per The Cable, other ministers criticised the capacity of the company to execute the project.
They also found reasons for concern in Amaechi’s inability to provide adequate clarity on the equipment capabilities.
Vice President Osinbajo in addressing the concerns was said to have “directed that in view of the observation raised by members, there was a need for the ministry to provide further description of the equipment, its brand name, manufacturer and how it worked”.