One of the companies was headed by Hamza Koshe Akuyam, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi State.
Bala Mohammed, the governor of Bauchi State, has been accused of awarding a project worth N2.5 billion to his children and political friends.
In one of the documents obtained by SaharaReporters, the contract — construction and renovation of health centres across the state — was awarded to PENTECH ENGINEERING NIG LTD, a company the governor allegedly had an interest in, according to a civil rights group, Patriotic Nigerians for Good Governance.
In a petition dated September 7, 2022, and addressed to the Gombe Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the civil rights group claimed that the company was headed by Hamza Koshe Akuyam, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi State.
Other directors at the helm of affairs in the company are said to be the governor’s children, but SaharaReporters could not independently verify the claim.
SaharaReporters however found that Hamza Koshe Akuyam, the Peoples Democratic Party chairman in the state is a director at PENTECH ENGINEERING NIG LTD.
When SaharaReporters subjected the company to a search, it found that Akuyam and four others were the directors of the company.
“We are the members of the Patriotic Nigerians For Good Governance, that include indigenes of Bauchi State and taxpayers, as concerned Nigerians, write to intimate you of the misappropriation of Public funds Bauchi State by the Governor Bala A Mohammed administration in the award of the above-mentioned contract to a company he has interest in as the sitting Governor, via a proxy, the Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) of Bauchi State,” the group noted.
“The Bauchi State PDP Chairman, HAMZA KOSHE coincidentally, one of the Directors of PENTECH ENGINEERING NIG, LTD, along with NAJAH HAMZA, NA'IMA HAMZA and one other MOHAMMED AUWAL all his children are on the Board of the Company as Directors,” it added.
Apart from tracing the company’s managers to be the governor's friends and family members, the group also alleged that Governor Bala Mohammed did not follow due process as no other company participated in the bidding for the award.
It further argued that awarding the contract to the governor’s allies “has cast suspicion” on the legality of the process of the award, adding that the managers were just used as proxies by the governor.
United Bank For Africa In The Picture
A separate document obtained by this paper revealed that the United Bank for Africa loaned the contracting company a sum of N2,510,000,000,000 to execute the project.
The management of PENTECH ENGINEERING NIG. LTD in its September 30, 2021, meeting held at No 03, Rimi Close GRA, Bauchi, resolved to take the loan from the bank. In addition, the company during the meeting resolved that Koshe — as the highest shareholder and director — would be the “sole signatory of the company's account domiciled at the said United Bank for Africa (UBA).”
The document reads: “At the Meeting of the Management of PENTECH ENGINEERING NIG. LTD which held on the 30th September 2021 at its registered office situated at No. 3. Rimi Close, G.R.A, Bauchi, Bauchi Local Government Area Bauchi State, the following resolutions were proposed and duly passed by all members of the company:
“1. That a term loan in the sum of Two Billion Five Naira only (N2, 510,000, 000,000.00) be obtained from the United Bank of Africa (UBA) for the purpose of executing a Contract Financing agreement relationship with the Bauchi State Government.
“2. That as the highest shareholder and Director in the company. AlhajiHamza Koshe shall remain the sole signatory of the company's account domiciled at the said United Bank for Africa (UBA).”
State Government Reacts
However, the Bauchi State Government refuted the claim and described it as fabricated and unprofessional.
Mukhtar Gidado, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Governor, issued the statement dated 24th September 2022 titled “Re: Petition Against The Award Of Contract For The Construction/Renovation Of Secondary And Primary Health Care Centres Across Bauchi State To Pentech Engineering Nigeria Limited At N2,500,000,000.00 (Two Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira Only) With Pentech Nigeria Limited As At The Award 1,000,000.00 Share Capital Company And Other Matters Of Procedure In The Award”.
The statement said the Patriotic Nigerians for Good Governance falsely and maliciously made unsubstantiated allegations of impropriety in the award of the contract, stating that the amount was N4.5 billion, not N2.5 billion.
“Since the project was to be financed through a Bank Facility, the State EXCO, strictly keeping to procedure, gave approval for the sum of N2,500,000,000.00 (Two Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira Only) to be accessed from a N30,000,000,000.00 (Thirty Billion Naira Only) Contract Financing Arrangement with the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) by the State’s Major Contractors.
“This is in addition to a sum of N2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira Only) Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) direct intervention loan available to the State through Access Bank Plc, placing the total contract sum for health at N4,500,000,000.00 (Four Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira Only) and not the N2,500,000,000.00 (Two Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira Only) as was wrongly asserted in the petition”, the statement read in part.
Mukhtar stressed that a large percentage of the project had been satisfactorily completed and duly certified with just a minor percentage ongoing.
He said before the commencement of the contract, the State Government sought and obtained legislative backing from the state house of assembly to draw from the N30 billion Contract Financing Arrangement facility.
“Backed by the House Resolution, the State Government went ahead to award the contract to a consortium of companies led by Pentech Engineering Nigeria Limited serving as Special Purpose Vehicle and major contractor to finance the more than 20 companies: a convenient arrangement for the State (guarantor), the Bank (Lender), the Contractor (Borrower) and the Sub – Contractors.
The Governor’s aide maintained that procedures adopted in the award of the contract were in strict compliance with the state regulations governing due process.
He said Pentech Engineering Nigeria Limited, as an indigenous company that has, long before the advent of Governor Bala’s administration, acquitted itself creditably as a reputable partner in the development of the state.
However, the statement did not clearly explain whether the bidding process was duly followed before the contract was awarded to Pentech Engineering Nigeria Limited.
Muktar Lied, Statement Contradicts Procurement Act
The press statement issued by Muktar Gidado, the governor’s media aide cannot stand in defence of the infringement, SaharaReporters can report.
The State’s procurement law mandated that a procuring entity (state government, MDAs or any institution) must offer every interested candidate, equal simultaneous information and opportunity to offer the goods, works and services needed”.
Impliedly, it means every business (contract) the state is awarding, it must subject all contractors to an open bidding process and every contractor must have equal rights to participate in the bidding process.
“And the invitations for bids shall be advertised in at least two (2) national newspapers, where one must be a relevant internationally recognized publication, the official websites of the procuring entity and the Agency (if any), and not less than six weeks before the deadline for submission of the bids”, part of the procurement law states.
The procurement law provides that the invitation for bids shall be advertised on the notice Board of the Council and of the procuring entity, any official websites of the procuring entity, the State Procurement Journal, and at least one other publication circulating around the State, not less than four weeks before the deadline for submission of the tenders for the works, goods, and services.
Similarly, the act stated that “All contractors with physical presence/offices in Bauchi State who have paid all due taxes and levies for at least three consecutive years preceding the date of the solicitation to the Federal Government and or Bauchi State Government and or any of its Local governments.”
The law added that on technical qualification, “Technical qualification in this law shall mean and include specifically relevant experience backed up by required professional qualifications.”
Also, none of these requirements was met by the Bauchi State government before the award of such contracts.
The state government neither advertised the projects for potential bidders nor followed due process in the award of the contracts to the contractors. The contractors are not qualified to get the contracts if the state procurement act is anything to go by.
For instance, PENTECH ENGINEERING NIG.LTD status on the CAC portal shows that the company is not active. By implication, the company usually fails to remit the necessary taxes and documentation needed for it to qualify for any government contract.
When the status of a registered Company is indicated as ‘INACTIVE’ by the Corporate Affairs Commission, it denotes that the company has not filed its annual returns or has been dormant, according to CAC.
Another company owned by Bala’s Allies in the Trend
The administration of Bala Mohammed has equally faulted the procurement law by awarding another contract to his political ally via a company that was equally unqualified to get the award.
The contract for the construction/renovation of General Hospital Misau, in Misau LGA awarded to BORODO HERITAGE AND INVESTMENT LTD, a company owned by Isah Babayo, Governor Mohammed’s ally is another scam.
Babayo was Governor Mohammed’s Special Adviser on Hajj after he was sworn in in 2019. Babayo is also the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for the House of Representatives representing Toro Local Government Area.
Patrick Owoicho, a Bauchi-based lawyer is a deponent in the company and on different occasions, he defended the political associates of Governor Bala.
In 2018, he defended the senatorial aspirant of the PDP for Bauchi South district for the 2023 election, Dahiru Garba and other PDP stalwarts in the state in a case raised against them by EFCC in a court over the alleged misappropriation of millions of funds.
Apart from the Managers of the company being the governor's friends, Bala did not follow the Bauchi State procurement law. There was no open bidding for potential qualified contractors. The company was handpicked without commensurate experience to perform the task.
NG.CHECK showed that the company was incorporated in Bauchi State and registered on 20 March 2019 just days after Bala emerged as the state’s Governor-elect. It was awarded billions of naira in contract without proof of the mandatory 3 years of experience and tax remittances, a fundamental requirement for contractors bidding government contracts.
Records of BORODO HERITAGE AND INVESTMENT LTD on the CAC portal also show that the company is inactive. It indicates that the company is not adhering to tax remittances and other necessary documentation needed to bid for government contracts.
N2.5 Billion Spent Amidst Deteriorating Health Care System
Last year, the Bauchi State Government claimed it had expended about N2.5 billion on the construction and renovation of primary and secondary healthcare facilities during governor Bala’s first two-year reign. However, several media reports have documented several facilities left to suffer odd circumstances. See them here, here and here.
On August 27, WikkiTimes, an online news outlet based in Bauchi documented how an abandoned primary healthcare facility in Warji local council denies over 7,000 locals access to healthcare services.
Residents equally post on their Facebook walls the conditions of such healthcare centres despite the bogus amount of money the state claimed to have expended in them work.
“This is a clinic that’s located in Ingila town in Warji LGA in Bauchi State,” a resident, Tijjani Muhammad Nura, wrote on Facebook. “The clinic serves about an approximation of 7000 people from different settlements and has been in this way for almost three years now. All hospital activities are carried out in here.”
Responding, Musa Azare, the Special Adviser to Governor Bala Mohammed on Projects Monitoring, claimed he had called the attention of the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency to the eyesore, adding that the chairman of the agency “immediately summoned directors” seeking explanations for the deplorable health facility.
But a media report earlier documented the terrible condition of another abandoned PHC in Misau Local Government Council.
The facility, built by Senator Isah Hamma Misau, would be left unused five years after it was completed.
Several other media reports detailed how the government has neglected a PHC in Bangarati, a community in Misau local government. This trend continued unchecked for over 10 years.
In the facility, only three volunteer healthcare workers attend to over 8,000 people from different communities in the local council. The terribly-looking facility has only three beds.
At Dunkurmi PHC, also in Misau LGA, the story remains the same. The only person responsible for the maternity unit of the facility was a volunteer staff who is not always available at the working place.
Similarly, at PHC Kofar Fada Azare, the roof of the facility is still suffering the anguish of negligence and as a result of inadequate beds, patients are placed on bare mattresses on a bare floor.
FOI Request Ignored
SaharaReporters has sent an FOI request to the Bauchi State Ministry of works for comments on the violation of the State’s procurement law in the award of contracts to the two companies belonging to Governor Mohammed’s allies. The ministry failed to reply the medium weeks after the FOI was sent.
This publication is produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.