He said the vampire elites and ruling class are heavily subsidised by the peripheral capitalist system while the masses are subjected to excruciating economic pains.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has revealed how top Nigerian government officials overruled former President Muhammadu Buhari's Executive Order and hijacked the International Cargo Tracking Note Scheme contract for five companies.
Falana made the revelation in a State of the Nation statement he issued on Sunday where he listed what he described as a catalogue of lootings in Nigeria by those he described as “Vampire Elites and Ruling Class.”
He said the vampire elites and ruling class are heavily subsidised by the peripheral capitalist system while the masses are subjected to excruciating economic pains.
According to Falana, the Nigerian government was denied a revenue of $500 million by a group of corrupt public officers who hijacked the contract.
Explaining how the top government officials overruled Buhari's Executive Order and hijacked the contract, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said, “The international Cargo Tracking Note Scheme to protect international shipping and prevent the movement of dangerous cargo and arms shipments was introduced into Nigeria in 2010 via an agreement between the Nigerian Port Authority and TPMS, a private company.
“Barely a year later, the agreement was suspended.
“When our attention was drawn to the illegal suspension of the Cargo Tracking Note system, we protested and the suspension was lifted on May 28, 2015 only to be suspended again in 2016.
“In 2022, President Buhari issued an executive order which authorized a company to operate the Cargo Tracking Note.
“But 5 companies sponsored by top government functionaries overruled the President and hijacked the contract.
“The company that won the contract has since sued the federal government at the Federal High Court.
“Meanwhile, Nigeria has lost at least $500 million while the security of the nation has been compromised by a bunch of corrupt public officers.
Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, once abruptly terminated the scheme in October 2011.
Okonjo-Iweala, who also chaired a presidential committee on ports reform under former President Goodluck Jonathan, said some importers complained their cargos were already being tracked by the Nigerian Customs Services from origin to destination so there was no reason for the NPA to collect charges on ICTN.
“Upon enquiry, we learned that charges totalled about $6 million. I had never seen this money remitted to the Treasury,” the former minister wrote in her book titled, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines.
“Clearly, the $6 million from the Nigerian Ports Authority from the Cargo Tracking Note not being remitted to the treasury must be going into some influential pockets,” she wrote.
Media reports said that on February 15, 2023, the Nigerian government announced Antaser Nigeria Limited/Antaser Afrique BVBA, a Belgium-based company and other local companies such as MSSRS Velocity logistics and Marine Services, Saham’s Crystal Investments Limited, Winslow Logistics Limited and Equal Logistics Limited as preferred winners for the installation of Electronic Cargo Tracking Notes for seaports nationwide.