President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, have approved a huge national security-sensitive maritime contract to a medical company in a process the Bureau of Public Procurement says is “embarrassing” and illegal, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation has revealed.
The International Cargo Tracking Note 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, a government memo says, emphasising national security and economic benefits.
In what kickstarted the current process that is now stuck in controversy and abuse, Mr Amaechi’s transport ministry, 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, documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES showed.
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.
He then sought and obtained Mr Buhari’s anticipatory approval to engage MedTech without any competition, a development that was inconsistent with the president’s earlier directive and the public procurement law. On Linkedin, Mr Abou-Hassan said of his involvement in the coast of West Africa, which covers Nigeria, that “It is our intention to continue to leverage our experience of almost 20 years in this region to help build capacity in a very difficult environment and where the level of public healthcare has suffered much neglect for over three decades.”