ELDER DASO JOSIAH(JUSTICE OF PEACE)
 
 
 
 
No. 7 Beach Lane,
Josiah Family Compound,
P.0.Box 6938,
Trans-Amadi Post office,
Port Harcourt.
 
28th August, 2012.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Chairman,
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC)
No 5, Fomella Street, off Adetokunbo
Ademola Crescent, Wuse II
Abuja, Nigeria
 
 
 
INVESTIGATION OF CONTRACT DEEMED IMPROPERLY AWARDED BY THE MINISTRY OF NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS TO AN INCOMPETENT COMPANY FOR LAND RECLAIMATION AND SHORELINE PROTECTION OF JOSIAH FAMILY LAND IN AMADI TOWN RESIDENTIAL LAYOUT, PORT HARCOURT.
 
 
With a deep sense of responsibility, i find it compelling to lodge  a formal complaint, for investigative activities, of the contract the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs awarded in May 2011, to Panama Construction company Limited in the aftermath of Josiah Family chairman’s letter dated 24th July, 2009 (a copy is attached) at a cost of N1,434,400,664.19 for land reclamation and shoreline protection Layout, of the Family land situated in Amadi Town Residential Layout, Port Harcourt, created sequel to the acquisition of the land the family by the Government and the subsequent allocation of compensatory plots to the family.
 
As, the then Chairman of Josiah Family who wrote the letter to the Ministry of Niger Delta, I have been very unhappy with the manner of award and the contract given to Panama Construction Company Limited strongly believed to be connected to Chief Edwin K. Clark, the godfather of the minister, Mr. Orubebe, both of whom hail from Delta state.
 
 
My complaint is rested on the following weighty points:
 
1.     The contract was never publicly advertised in accordance with Public Procurement Act, for interested competent companies to present their bids/tenders.
 
2.     The spirited drive of Josiah Family for its land in Amadi Town Residential Layout, PH, opposite the Amadi Creek Estate owned by Inter oil Investment Company, created on the kneel of the transformation of the hitherto vast stretch of marshy and swampy mangrove forest through an unauthorized massive sand mining and housing a number of companies including the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) lasted over thirteen (13) years and a number of quarters at the Federal, state and International levels were approached.
 
 
3.     Mr. Dimaro Denyabofa was introduced to us in Amadi Ama, Port Harcourt, in June, 2011, by some officials of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, who came to announce the contract, as the helmsman of the company.
 
4.     For the avoidance of doubts, land reclamation and shoreline protection is a big and tasking project that requires a high level of expertise, in-dept knowledge and a rich wealth of experience to handle in a professional and satisfactory manner.
 
 
5.     The contract, awarded to Panama Construction Company Limited, as revealed as the Town Hall Meeting in June, 2011, was to last eighteen (18) months.
 
 
6.     From findings, only Panama quoted for the project awarded to it not on the basis of expertise or competence but on primordial consideration.
 
 
7.     The two (2) other contracts awarded by the Ministry at the same time were to:
 
a)     A. G Vision Limited, land reclamation at Essien Town, Calabar, Cross Rivers state at N 1, 948, 302, 432.28
 
b)    Messrs Sinecon Group of companies, land reclamation project in Burutu, Delta state at N2, 431,040, 276.
 
8.     I strongly hold that the Federal Executive Council that may have deliberated on and approved the submission of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs on the Contract was ostensibly fed with misleading information.
 
 
9.     Undoubtedly, a contract of the magnitude of N1.4 billion ought to be advertised as stipulated by law, except the law has an exemption clause unknown to me. To that extent, any breach of the extant law put a big question mark on the outcome. And this is apparently the case with Panama Construction Company contentious contract.
 
10. It has to be established and proved beyond reasonable doubt that the contract was advertised and the due process was strictly complied with. Newspaper Publications are necessary in this regard.
 
11. Findings at the Corporate Affairs Commission on Panama Construction Company Limited showed inter-alia:
 
a)     R.C. NO:   18, 320
b)    ADDRESS:    No 19 Martins Street, Lagos
c)     SHARE CAPITAL   N50,000
d)    DIRECTORS
i. Samuel A. Usman - Legal Practitioner
 ii. Olrude Fadufosi - Trader
24 Adedokan Street, Olurusogo, Mushin, Lagos.
 
 
12. By law, no two (2) companies can bear the same name. It is for this reason that a search is usually conducted whenever an application for incorporation is made to first ascertain that an existing company is not using the same name. It is unclear if the Panama with the data above is the same awarded the contract.
 
13. On the poor quality contract Notice Board, which officials of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs on visit were unhappy with mounted by Panama, at the project site, its address indicated is No. 3 Swamp Road, G.R.A. Warri, Delta state.
 
14. As at date, Panama does not have any site at the project ground. The last time Officials of the Ministry visited, we have to arrange a nearby Guest House for our meeting contrary to procedure.
 
15. Some Officials of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs have on 5th October, 2011 and May 2012 visited the site and their reports should be called for and thoroughly examined. I believe that they should be honest and frank in which they have put down on their findings and suggestions.
 
16. The project Engineer of the Ministry of Niger Delta is available to offer his comments on the project.
 
17. As a stakeholder, I have written a number of letters to the Hon. Minister of Niger Delta Affairs which he did not bother to reply to any.
 
18.The suspended permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Alhaji Kigo, involved in the Pension Fund Scam, was very helpful while in the saddle and could gave done much if he was still in office till now.
 
19. More that thirteen (13) months after the award of the contract, no job has started on the site and there is no hope when anything will start.
 
20. Panama Construction Company Ltd. Has shown itself incompetent and unable to do the job it took and has been seeking for help from any willing company ready to come to its rescue.
 
21.It is believed that Panama has secured a willing partner in Idoris Technical Services based in Warri, which, barge carrying 200 (two hundred) pieces of pilling sheet, a hammer and others, is still suck in the sea up till date. The barge was dispatched from Warri on Sunday, 15th July, 2012 with goods, without any proper arrangement in place regarding where to berth. The bag abandoned by the tug boat that brought it to head back to Warri, was found in a private jetty at Amadi Creek Estate on Monday, 16th July, 2013 and let loose to float about with the heavy load on it culminating to the fate that eventually befell it.
 
22. Procedurally, the contract award procedure involves the completion and submission of an Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) from any bank of choice on the basis of which the prescribed mobilization fee is paid to the contractor and subsequent payment is effected on laid down milestone achievement.
 
23. Panama Construction Company Limited may have since received a huge amount as mobilization fee and there is the likelihood that the company may seek for variation, sooner or later, as its quotation is said to be far below the actual cost of project execution.
 
24.The contract awarded to Panama ought to have been terminated by now for inability to perform but the Hon. Minister lacks the courage to do so against the backdrop of the powerful figure involved. Why has the contract remained un-cancelled till date? Answer to this puzzling question is needed.
 
25.  Commonsense dictates that, if the Hon. Minister was out to favor his godfather, Chief Edwin k. Clark, he (Mr. Orubebe, an Ijaw man) should have given Chief Clark, also an Ijaw man, the Burutu project. Of course, it stands to reason that the Hon. Minister would not want Chief Clark to suffer any form of harassment from the natives in the event of any failure to do the job on time. Therefore, moving Chief Clark to an area least resistance was considered a better option. Panama does not have any standing in Port Harcourt. Also, Chief Clark is behind the façade. I was able to unmask his involvement in Panama by sheer luck. There is need to establish the key figure(s) in the company.
 
 
From the foregoing, I recall that during the lifetime of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC), the forerunner of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) then headed by Chief Albert Horsefall, a similar contract for land reclamation and shoreline protection of the same area was awarded in the 1990s to Kejeh and Sons. The company was unable to execute the project until OMPADEC was wounded up. All efforts made, in writing, to get the NDDC, right from the chairmanship of Chief Ogochuchwu to the last Board to re-visit the contract and to re-award same to a competent company have been unsuccessful. A repeat of the unfortunate situation must be avoided for history not to repeat itself.
 
It is sad that the present contract awarded by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs was doomed to fail from the onset. Understandingly, the Ministry was, undoubtedly, fully ware that Panama Construction Company Limited, cannot and will be unable to do the Herculean job given to it on a platter of gold.
 
This notwithstanding, the Ministry, in contravention of every known standard, still went ahead to foist the contract on Panama. The prevailing state of affair tells the story better.
 
Indeed, what the Ministry has done is contrary to the spirit and letter of the transformation agenda of the President Jonathan administration. It is disheartening that a Minister like Elder Orubebe is working in opposite direction to the cardinal policy thrust of Mr. President by promoting parochialism, mediocrity, incompetence and contract abandonment. In this wise, Mr. Orubebe, though a Niger Deltan, represesnts, in truth, a clog in the wheel of progress in the Niger Delta area. Alhaji Kigo, a northerner, and former Permanent Secretary, could have since taken this contentious contract to its logical conclusion but for the mess he got entangled in. My brief interaction with him via correspondence was fruitful unlike Mr. Orubebe who sees himself as a tin god and unamenable to sound reasoning and who is too big to give a lesser mortal like me a reply to my numerous correspondence to him.
 
 
Suffice to say it frankly and forthrightly that the, contract Mr. Orubebe gave to his kinsman Chief Clark’s Panama Construction Company Limited was wrong in every respect and done in bad faith in the first place as sordid event of the past thirteen (13) months have vividly shown. It follows that the contract must be retrieved from the wrong hand it was erroneously given to and moved to a competent hand.
 
I shall appreciate your thorough examination and analysis of the pertinent issues raised in this compliant letter. I have to explain that the contract in itself is a welcome development to address a festering and alarming environmental problem for which all of us in Josiah Family remain ever grateful to the Federal Government.
 
However, our sadness is that the contract was awarded to an incompetent company as it had happened in the past with the defunct OMPADEC contract.
 
I make bold to posit that the way forward, which the Ministry has been unwilling to embrace for reason beyond comprehension, is that contract be cancelled for non-performance after thirteen (13) months and re-awarded to a competent company located in Port Harcourt, to ease monitory, effective contact feedback.
 
Kindly endeavor to act expediously on this complaint letter and to ensure that something tangible is done and seen to be done in the final analysis. This mess must stop now. Please oblige with a suitable reply at the earliest convenience.
 
This complaint letter demanding investigation into the contract awarded to Panama Construction Company is being forwarded to the EFCC, ICPC, Bureau of Public Procurement and Committees of Public Petitions/Complaints in the Senate and House of Representative, among others.
 
Thank you, Sir, for your understanding and kind attention.
 
 
 
Elder Daso Josiah Koko
(Justice of peace)