Business
Unbelievable As NIMASA Sells 82 Vehicles For N5.8m In 12 Years
Unbelievable As NIMASA Sells 82 Vehicles For N5.8m In 12 Years
NIMASA– Members of the House of Representatives on Friday were shocked to the marrow as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) publicly justified the sales of 82 vehicles for the sum of N5.8 million over the past 12 years.
Trouble started when the NIMASA Executive Director, Mr. Chudi Offodile, announced during the resumed investigative hearing into the disposal of public property by the Agencies between 2010 and 2022 to unravel the extent of illegal auctioning of public property and non-remittance of revenue realized into the Consolidated Revenue Fund’, chaired by Hon. Julius Ihonbvere, that due process was followed.
The documents presented and obtained by the Nigerian Tribune showed that a Peugeot Expert Ambulance with a market value of N200,000 was sold at a forced liquidation or auction value of N95,000; a Honda Civic Saloon Car with a market value of N170,000 was sold at N76,500; a Toyota Hilux (Grounded) with a market value of N300,000 was sold at N140,000; another Toyota Hilux (Accidental) with a market value of N200,000 was sold at N96,000; and another Toyota Hilux (Grounded) with a market value of N250,000 was sold at N115,000.
In the same vein, two units of Toyota Hilux, which were at the time of inspection in the custody of Carbotage Consultant in Lagos and put at N1 million market value, were sold at N470,000 each for forced liquidation or auction value; a Honda Civic put at N210,000 was sold at N95,000; a Honda City put at N190,000 market value was sold at N80,000, among others.
Through its office in Abuja, a Toyota Hilux put at N500,000 market value was sold at N245,000; a Toyota Avensis put at N300,000 market value was sold at N145,000; a Toyota Corolla put at N300,000 market value was sold at N147,000; and two units of Honda Civic put at N90,000 market value were sold at N30,000 each, among others.
Other lawmakers who spoke during the investigative hearing demanded documentary evidence of funds remitted into the CRF account as provided by extant provisions of the Procurement Act, Proceeds of Crimes Act, and other known legislation or financial regulations.
In his presentation, Mr Offodile, who denied knowledge of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 on the remittance of the funds generated from the sale of public assets, however, affirmed that the proceeds of sales were paid by the Auctioneers into NIMASA’s coffers.
When asked whether the Agency has a mechanic’s workshop where faulty vehicles can be repaired, Mr. Offodile answered in the negative.
While expressing surprise that most of the vehicles displayed in the document presented to the Ad-hoc Committee didn’t show that they are old or not in good condition, Hon. Ihonbvere said: “Looking at them (pictures of vehicles captured in the documents), some of them are looking new,” adding that for Nigerians, a 13-year-old Toyota Hilux is not old.”
Hon. Ihonbvere thereafter narrated how a former Edo State Governor engaged a female mechanic to fix some of the vehicles tagged as unserviceable and recovered over 100 vehicles while other spare parts were stored.
He explained that over 100 vehicles fixed by the female mechanic were deployed to various MDAs, thereby blocking financial leakages.
Hon. Ihonbvere specifically expressed concern over the rationale behind the placement of an advertisement on March 29, 2022, calling for a public auction of NIMASA vehicles and the sale of all the vehicles on March 30, 2022, through forced liquidation or auction.
While alleging that the move “leaves us with the impression that it’s a pre-arrangement,” the Majority Leader argued that the process contravened the extant Public Procurement Act to dispose of public assets within 24 hours.
Hon. Ihonbvere, who disclosed that the Ad-hoc Committee is in the custody of petitions against NIMASA alleging that the vehicles were sold to some officials and staff of the Agency, maintained that the Auctioneers engaged by NIMASA were merely hired to rubber stamp the fictitious insider trading.
Hence, the lawmakers requested a list of all the Auctioneers as well as beneficiaries of the vehicles, the original cost of the vehicles and invoices, a letter of contract awards for the auctioning of the assets to the auctioneers, and relevant approvals obtained from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing as well as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
One of the lawmakers expressed worry about why the Agency only carried out sales of vehicles and did not have any record of sales of computers and other office equipment within the period under review.
Hon. Ihonbvere, who requested the registers of all the assets of NIMASA and other MDAs, disclosed that the asset registers would be computerised in the state-of-the-art library, which is currently under construction within the National Assembly complex, to be commissioned by the end of September 2023.
In the same vein, the lawmakers quizzed the Sokoto River Basin’s delegation over indiscriminate sales of public assets to the management of the Agency in breach of the extant Public Procurement Act at ridiculous prices.
To this end, Hon. Ihonbvere directed the delegation from NIMASA and the Sokoto River Basin to provide relevant documents that will aid the ongoing investigation. The ad hoc Committee is expected to resume hearings on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
NNPCL and Corruption’s Final Throes
By Pius Olasanmi
In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians were still capable of being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that still held some mysticism to bamboozle citizens, during a conversation, a certain man said something profound. The man said, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him further on why he would engage in such waste, he explained that repairing the refineries is the real waste. He explained that even if the TAM were honestly carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would never compete favourably with a new one that would integrate contemporary technology. Operating at its best, such a refinery would never be comparatively more efficient. It is therefore pointless to have spent another one naira on the refineries at that point.
A few months later, I had a conversation with a then-lawmaker on an entirely different matter. I mentioned that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting legislation that would criminalise and punish public office holders who foist wrong decisions on the country. The logic: a public office holder need not steal to be punished, wrong decisions should attract penalties for an office holder who opts for the worst of all options when there are less injurious ones.
These established premises speak to the ongoing nauseating efforts at revisionism by those who wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its previous iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this campaign to rewrite history is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced immediate past Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the news and the public opinion space with even more lies than they spun while in office.
The Saint Kyari campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries were fully functional when he was booted out of office. So brazen is the campaign that one of its talking heads challenged the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We have not forgotten so soon the charade that followed the baffling claim that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the repair of the refineries, while they are not churning out even a single litre of refined product among them. Saint Kyari and his goons played all manner of tricks, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productivity of the refineries as part of his achievements, only to realise that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we forget, 200 trucks were arranged as props in a well-directed video clip to celebrate the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians were to learn from several reports that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was instead using old, stored petroleum products to load trucks. Worse still, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as locally refined products. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished products. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings called those who pointed out or protested these glaring scams all manner of names. They hid behind industry technicalities and jargon to create the impression that those of us who knew Nigerians were being robbed did not understand what we were saying. The point remains that a $2.8 billion investment can potentially build a refinery with a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the actual capacity of such a refinery will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the refinery, the technology used, and the location. That is the amount that Kyari’s regime at the NNPCL took and did not give Nigerians refined products.
Fast forward to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that things can indeed be done differently. Kyari’s exit was expectedly followed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is better understood against the backdrop of N80 billion being found in the bank account of one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps because the EFCC was biding its time on securing international warrants for the arrests of these characters on the lam, they have become emboldened. They have decided to fight back and rewrite the story of their participation in the greatest fraud against Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, became their natural target. The demons that once roamed around the corporation came out with malevolence. They started spinning stories of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to hide their crimes. The objective: bring Ojulari down. But alas, he is winning the war as it stands.
His innocence is proven, and it is glaring that those who want him out are mere charlatans who can no longer ply their corrupt wares because of the impact of the new reforms. Corruption in the NNPCL is in its final throes. The fake news being unleashed against the incumbent leadership is akin to corruption’s last kicks as reforms in the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms must take place in the NNPCL, whether the industry demons like it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do well to prepare their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered in the name of repairing the moribund refineries, they must also answer for the poor decision to fix that which is irretrievably broken. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries that a right-thinking person had suggested should be demolished almost twenty years ago, when they were only 30 years old, is criminal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the fake repairs worked is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
GRANDIS 5STAR LUXURY APARTMENT & SUITES SET TO REDEFINE LIVING IN VICTORIA ISLAND
Set to Rise elegantly against the Lagos skyline, is the Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites. According to Adejuwon Ademola, The General Manager of the Development company, it is more than just a residential building
“it’s a lifestyle statement. Standing 17 floors high in the heart of Victoria Island, this revolutionary masterpiece of modern architecture will offer a panoramic 360° view of Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi, transforming every apartment into an exclusive penthouse experience for the world’s most discerning elite.”
Developed by Dumarco Construction Limited, a globally acclaimed company with decades of delivering complex, high-value projects in the highly regulated petroleum, oil, and gas industries, Grandis 5Star brings unmatched international safety standards, uncompromising quality, and timeless elegance into Nigeria’s luxury property market.
> “When you live in Grandis, you’re not just buying a home—you’re investing in peace of mind, world-class safety, and an effortless luxury experience that will remain pristine for decades,” says Adejuwon A. Ademola, General Manager of Dumarco Construction Limited.
The Gold Standard in Safety and Quality
Dumarco’s roots in the oil and gas sector mean the company operates to some of the strictest safety protocols in the world. Every stage—from conceptualization, design, construction, to long-term maintenance—follows internationally accepted procedures and quality assurance measures. Cutting corners is simply not in Dumarco’s vocabulary.
> “In the oil and gas industry, there’s no room for compromise. We’ve brought that same discipline and zero-tolerance for mediocrity into property development,” says Ademola. “That’s why Grandis will be one of the safest and most enduring residential developments in Nigeria.”
To ensure transparency and prevent (project complacency), Dumarco deliberately separates the developer, contractor, and consultant roles, engaging only the most competent professionals in each respective field. Dumarco’s project team includes globally recognized contractors such as Julius Berger, Cappa & D’Alberto, and Elalan, Migliore Construczione & Tecniche (MC&T) and their partners VENCO IMTIAZ CONTRACTING COMPANY (VICC) based in Dubai, UAE, Business Contracting Limited, alongside leading consultants like Morgan Omanitan & Abe, LAMBERT, and James Cubitt.
Grandis – Investments, appreciation, returns and profitability
Our selection process for the location of the project alone was pains-taking and completely thorough scientific process. Top professional companies were employed to conduct a scientific data acquisition and analytical survey of the entire Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Eko Atlantic before a project site is selected. Analyzing and acquiring areas developmental charts and trends, studying and gathering historical and present sale prices, rental charge and occupancy rates over a 50 year period from every individual street before the selection of the location of any of our developments especially true for the Grandis Project
He adds,
“Our clients and residents can be rest assured that the location of Grandis has been scientifically proven through all existing data to provide our clients with a 100% occupancy rate, highest developmental location, highest rental income and investment returns. ”
The Grandis Experience
Located minutes away from international corporate headquarters, embassies, and landmarks such as Eko Hotel, Radisson Blu, and the Radisson Red, Grandis offers unmatched convenience for professionals, diplomats, and high-net-worth individuals. Every residence is designed for both indulgence and efficiency, with high-grade finishes, smart-home systems, and private amenities that ensure seamless living.
From sunrise over the Atlantic to the glittering Lagos night skyline, residents will enjoy uninterrupted luxury, supported by discreet and highly trained staff, advanced security systems, and a design that prioritizes comfort and privacy.
> “We designed Grandis for people who want everything—security, elegance, convenience, and the assurance that their home will look as spectacular in 20 years as it does on day one,” Ademola notes.
A Legacy That Lasts
With its combination of visionary architecture, peerless safety, and meticulous maintenance planning, Grandis is built to remain iconic for generations. Thanks to Dumarco’s meticulous approach, the building’s service charges are expected to remain low while its value and appeal continue to appreciate over time.
In a market often marred by shortcuts and substandard practices, Mr Ademola says
Grandis stands as a beacon of what luxury living should be—safe, spectacular, and built to last.
“Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites — Where safety meets sophistication, and every detail is designed for a life well-lived.”
He added
Website -www.dumarcoltd.com
Project website – www.26idowutaylor.com
Email [email protected]
Tel / WhatsApp +234 9077777883
GM – Adejuwon A. Ademola
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