Image
April 15, 2024
Doherty said this in an open letter dated April 11, 2024, and addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honorable Tajudeen Abbas.
Funso Doherty, the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 election in Lagos, has called on the National Assembly to investigate the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project awarded to Hi-Tech Construction Ltd.
Doherty said this in an open letter dated April 11, 2024, and addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honorable Tajudeen Abbas.
In the open letter titled, ‘Re: Apparent Violation Of The Public Procurement Act In The Award Of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road Project,’ Doherty described the contract award as “an alarming violation of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 (PPA)” by the executive arm of government through the Federal Ministry of Works (FMW), led by David Umahi.
He noted that the first phase of the project, covering the first 47km, from its origin at Ahmadu Bello Way by Eko Atlantic, was recently awarded for the sum of N1.06 trillion.
“The total projected cost is as yet, undisclosed,” he added.
“By the Minister's own public admission, competitive bidding was not applied, and the contract was awarded to Hi-Tech on a single-source basis.
“As you are no doubt aware, for obvious reasons aimed at protecting the public interest, the PPA as enacted by the National Assembly, requires open competitive bidding except for certain specific exemptions that are clearly outlined in Part VII of the act,” he said.
Doherty said in his opinion, none of the reasons canvassed by the minister for exempting the project from competitive bidding, applied to the road.
He said, “I therefore hereby call on the National Assembly, in its capacity as representatives of the people and, in exercise of its powers and responsibilities of oversight, to immediately commence an investigation into this project, the FMW and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).”
He urged the National Assembly to consider a few things in its investigation.
He said, “Both Hi-Tech Construction and South Energy Ltd (Promoter and developer of Eko Atlantic, the vast coastal concession granted for shoreline protection and development of luxury real estate, where the Coastal road will originate from) are reported to be substantially beneficially owned by Gilbert Chagoury. Mr Chagoury, whose antecedents are well-known to Nigerians, resides in France and is widely reported to enjoy a close relationship with HE President Bola Tinubu.
“The concession for Eko Atlantic, which by its coastal spread also requires Federal Government consent, was granted to South Energyx by HE President Bola Tinubu during his tenure as Governor in Lagos State.
“As a result of the issues now being raised on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project, the National Assembly may also want to better understand the Eko Atlantic concession, who its other ultimate beneficial owners are, its extent, limits and the process that was followed in granting that concession.
“Furthermore, according to the Minister, certain changes have been made to the proposed alignment of the road from the originally gazetted right of way to the one now being implemented by Hi-Tech. An argument has been made that being under common ownership (the Chagoury Group) with the concessionaire of an adjacent property, (Eko Atlantic), Hi-Tech is an interested party and may stand to benefit from some of the alignment changes that have been made.”
According to Doherty, the coastal road project should, “in the first instance be halted and subjected to due process including competitive bidding as required by the law”.
“If offences under the PPA or code of conduct are established in the course of your investigations, we expect that they will be prosecuted and that the consequences provided in the law will be applied to serve as a deterrent,” he added.
Background
SaharaRepoters reported last Thursday that the works minister, Umahi said that the contractor handling the project, Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech) did not do any competitive bidding for the project, rather, the contract was awarded to the company based on its track record, not on sentiments as being insinuated in some quarters.
SaharaReporters on September 24, 2023, reported how the project was awarded to Hitech Road Construction Company, a subsidiary of Hitech Construction Company owned by a Nigerian-Lebanese developer with alleged criminal records, Gilbert Chagoury.
Hitech is a division of the Chagoury Group, a business conglomerate owned by Chagoury, a known business partner of the Nigerian President, Tinubu.
Eko Atlantic in Lagos is also the brainchild of the businessman.
Years back, Chagoury was banned from getting a visa on terrorism grounds for allegedly funding a political coalition, Hezbollah, which the United States deems a terrorism group.
He was also in the past accused of drug dealings by the US and Lebanese governments.
The Los Angeles Times, which did a deep dive on Chagoury — in its August 30, 2016 edition, said that Chagoury’s visa troubles likely stem from his support of a Christian Lebanese politician.
The politician, Michel Aoun, is part of the same political coalition as Hezbollah, which the United States deems a terror group.
Since the 1990s, Chagoury was reported to have cultivated a friendship with the Clinton’s family, in part by writing big checks, including an estimated $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, this is despite being a non-citizen forbidden by law to make donations to the campaigns of US politicians.
He however flouted that law with his numerous donations. By the time Hillary Clinton became secretary of State, the relationship was strong enough for one of Bill Clinton’s closest aides to push for Chagoury to get access to top diplomats and thus began the US exploring a deal to build a consulate at the Eko Atlantic city.
Between 2012 and 2016, he sought to help fund election campaigns of some US politicians. He donated to the Republicans and was listed as a sponsor for a 2014 art exhibit at the George W Bush Presidential Center.
One other campaign he funded was that of Jeff Fortenberry, a US lawmaker, in 2016.
Fortenberry was later convicted of concealing information and making false statements to US federal authorities who were investigating illegal contributions made by Chagoury who is a foreign national, to his re-election campaign.
Fortenberry resigned from office after his conviction.
However, in 2019, Chagoury reportedly paid $1.8 million in fines to resolve the investigation when it began.
Born in Nigeria to Lebanese immigrants, the businessman flourished in the 1990s through his close association with the late dictator, Sani Abacha by receiving development deals and oil franchises.
After Abacha’s death in 1998, the Nigerian government hired lawyers to track down funds stolen through associates of the late dictator.
The trail led to bank accounts all over the world, some under Gilbert Chagoury’s control.
In 2000, the Lebanese businessman was convicted by a Swiss court for laundering some of the funds Abacha looted from Nigeria.
He agreed to pay a fine of about 1 million Swiss francs (about $600,000) at that time to get his Swiss conviction expunged and handed back $66 million to the Nigerian government but denied knowing the funds were stolen.