A prosecution witness, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, on Friday narrated before a Federal High Court in Lagos how a former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) ; Mr Temisan Omatseye allegedly rigged a contract and awarded it to an unqualified company.
Omatseye is standing trial on an amended 27-count charge on alleged bid rigging and contract splitting.
The witness, an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was cross examined by defence counsel, Mr Olushina Sofola (SAN).
A prosecution witness, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, on Friday narrated before a Federal High Court in Lagos how a former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) ; Mr Temisan Omatseye allegedly rigged a contract and awarded it to an unqualified company.
Omatseye is standing trial on an amended 27-count charge on alleged bid rigging and contract splitting.
The witness, an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was cross examined by defence counsel, Mr Olushina Sofola (SAN).
Ibrahim, who began his testimony on Feb. 6, told the court, presided over by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, that investigations revealed that the accused was involved in bid rigging.
Asked to define bid rigging, Ibrahim said that it was the act of awarding contract to a company that did not take part in a pre-qualification exercise for the award of a contract.
He said the accused had awarded a contract for the supply of Blackberry cell phones to an unqualified company.
The witness said that when NIMASA called for bids from various companies to supply Blackberry cell phones, three companies responded.
He listed the companies as Frankelle Nig. Ltd., which quoted N28 million; Oluhuntelle ventures Ltd., N25 million; and Amchor off-shore Services Ltd., N22 million.
Ibrahim said that the in-house estimate for the contract was N21 million.
He said that the contract was awarded to Amchor Off-shore Services Ltd., a company that was not involved in the pre-qualifying exercise.
Ibrahim said that although Amchor Ltd had made a notice on request for quotation and needed analysis to procure the phones, the company had no evidence of a pre-qualification report.
He said that the chairman of the governing board of NIMASA had by a memo, granted anticipatory approval for the contract to Amchor Limited.
The witness also said that after the contract was awarded, it was presented to the board for final approval.
“I was, however, unable to establish whether a logical conclusion was reached between the accused and the three companies in fulfillment of the said quotation,’’ he said.
Ibrahim said that he was also unable to reach or visit the participating companies to carry out further investigations.
After listening to the witness’ evidence, the judge adjourned the case to May 30 and 31 for continuation of trial.
The accused was first arraigned on Feb. 2011 on an 11-count charge of unlawfully transferring 300,000 pounds from NIMASA's Barclays Bank, London, to fund the campaign of one Mrs Monica Mbanefo.
Mbanefo was aspiring to be the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation.
The judge granted Omatseye bail.
The prosecution later withdrew the charge and replaced it with another on June 12 and filed on 13 June 2012.
He was then re-arraigned on Jan. 21 on the amended 27-count charge of contract splitting and bid rigging.
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