IN THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE
IN THE IKEJA JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN AT IKEJA
SUIT NO: ID/546/2005
BETWEEN:
CHIEF OLABODE GEORGE
CLAIMANT/RESPONDENT
AND
1. INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER LIMITED )….DEFENDANTS
2. FUNKE EGBEMODE …..RESPONDENTS
WITNESS STATEMENT ON OATH BY MR. BAMANGA BELLO ON SUPOENA
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I, MR. BAMANGA BELLO, Male of No 15A Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State do hereby make oath and state as follows:
1. I am an Investigation Officer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
2. Sometimes in the year 2005, I was called upon by the Chairman of the Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to represent him in the Committee set up by the Federal Government to review and verify contracts awarded by the Nigerian Ports Authority (hereinafter referred to as “NPA”) from 2001 to 2003
3. The name of the committee is Special Committee on Review And Verification of Contracts Awarded by the NPA from 2001 to 2003.
4. I represented Mallam Nuhu Ribadu during the Committee sittings.
5. Chief Olabode George was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nigeria Ports Authority during the period under investigation.
6. The Board of NPA under the chairmanship of Chief Olabode George approved various contracts without due process and in clear violations of extant Government rules and regulations, orders and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
7. Under the Federal Government Treasury Circulars Ref No: F.15775 dated 27th June 2001 and Ref No. TRY A & B4/2002 dated 5th July 2002, issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation respectively, all contracts above N50 million should be referred to the Federal Executive Council while those between N20 million and N50 million are to be referred to Ministerial Tenders Board, Contracts worth between One Million Naira and N20 million are to be approved by Board of Directors, N1 million contracts by Permanent Secretaries and Contracts worth Seven Hundred Thousand Naira and below are to be approved by Chief Executive of Parastatals.
8 Contrary to the above circulars and the relevant laws the Board of Nigeria Ports Authority under the Chairmanship of Chief Olabode George illegally conferred approval limits of N60 million on the Board, N30 million on the executive management, N10 million on the Managing Directors, N2 million on the Executive Directors, N700,000.00 on the General Managers and N500,000.00 on the Ports Managers. The action of the Board in disregarding the extant government rules and regulations on award of contracts contravenes section 203 of the Criminal Code.
9. Investigation revealed that the Nigeria Ports Authority during the period under review awarded over 24,252 contracts valued at over N100 billion.
10. The Board under the Chairmanship of Chief Olabode George during the period under investigation approved various contracts which only the Ministerial Tenders Board or the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had power to approve and thereby contravened Section 61 of the Criminal Code.
11. During the period under investigation various contracts which ordinarily should have been referred to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) or the Ministerial Tenders Board for approval were fraudulently split into many units by the Board under the Chairmanship of Chief Olabode George with the intention of circumventing extant government rules and regulations so that the contract amount will fall within the boards approval limits for the purpose of gain making by the Board.The Act of fraudulent split of contracts is tantamount to abuse of office contrary to Section 104 of the Criminal Code.
12. It was also revealed during the period under investigation that contracts awarded by the Board were generally inflated as can be seen from the Report of the Committee and annexures II. The Act of inflation of contract prices is tantamount to conspiracy and stealing contrary to sections 516 and 390 of the Criminal Code. This action also contravened Section 22(3) of the ICPC Act 2000.
13. During the investigation Chief Olabode George was invite, interviewed and interrogated by the Committee.
14. It was also discovered that Chief Olabode George left office with about four vehicles belonging to Nigeria Ports Authority which prompted the Committee to write to him as a result of which he returned the vehicles to the Nigeria Ports Authority.
15. Contrary to Government Regulation the Claimant occupied two properties belonging to the NPA at Ikoyi, Lagos and Maitama, Abuja.
16. Even after the Claimant had been removed as the Chairman of the NPA he was still occupying the two properties contrary to Government Regulations.
17. It was also revealed that numerous contracts were awarded in foreign currencies at highly inflated rates for supply of items that were easily obtainable in Nigeria markets. Items such as umbrella, ball pens, fire services equipments etc.
18. Most of the contracts awarded by the NPA under the leadership of Chief Olabode George were not budgeted for contrary to Section 22(4) of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission Act (ICPC).
19. Chief Olabode George presided over the meetings in which the decision to award the contracts were taken.
20. It was observed in the investigation that the Nigeria Ports Authority was operating under serious pressure from top government functionaries, legislators and party leaders for contract awards which was largely responsible for award of spurious contracts based on patronage rather than need.
21. It was also discovered that 100% advance payments were made at the Nigeria Ports Authority London office in contravention of the provisions of the Federal Government circular No: F.15775 of 27 June 2001 which stipulates a maximum 25% for all upfront payments. Between August 2002 and August 2003, Nigeria Ports Authority made 100% advance payments to 23 contractors at their London Office and some of these contracts were yet to be executed as at the time of the investigation.
22. I believe that the facts I have stated in this document are true.
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