NIGERIAN PRESIDENT, BUHARI TERMINATES $195 MILLION ‘ISRAELI’ SECURITY CONTRACT…Promoted By Transport Minister, Amaechi
The contract, signed off
by the Federal Executive Council in December 2017, would have
seen the contractor, HSLi, net $195 million in exchange for an undisclosed
number of special mission aircraft, special mission helicopters and 12 fast
intervention vessels for the Nigerian Navy.
The Guardian later reported
that the contract would see Nigeria acquire three helicopters, three
aircraft, three big battle-ready ships, 12 vessels and 20 amphibious cars to
secure Nigerian waters.
Friendly offer?
The deal was midwived by
Nigeria’s transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi, but the House of Representatives
raised questions about details of the contract and the identity of
the contractor.
In the memo dispatched by the
Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari, directing the Attorney General of
the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to terminate the contract, the president
also ordered the National Security Adviser and the Nigerian Intelligence Agency
to investigate how the contractor obtained security clearance for the job without
an end-user certificate.
The president also ordered that
the contractor should be made to supply items equivalent to the $50 million
upfront payment which they received recently.
The contractor, HSLi, passed
around as an “Israeli company” by the transport minister is not a registered business entity in
Israel, a PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation revealed. They, however, hold close ties
with Mitrelli, another Israeli Company which also holds close ties with the
minister.
In 2012, while Mr. Amaechi was
the governor of oil-rich Rivers state, he awarded a $140 millioncontract to
Mitrelli (aka LR Group) to develop a farm in Etche, a suburb of Port Harcourt,
the state capital. LR Group recently rebranded as Mitrelli as it transitioned
into an arms business.
Mired in suspicion
But shortly after
the contract was awarded, critics began raising questions about the
administration’s hiring of foreign firms to secure Nigerian waters, saying it
could undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty and national security.
The House of Representatives
also launched an investigation into the contract following a petition
from civic groups who complained that the contract was fraught with
sharp practices.
An insider revealed that the contract,
said its findings revealed that the contract would violate
appropriation laws because it was not in the budget and recommended outright
termination.
The lawmakers said HLSi
Security was not a registered company in Israel and Mr. Amaechi failed to
supply them with documents even after they had conducted eight hearings on the matter.
At the time the committee’s
investigation was ongoing, Mr Amaechi said some corrupt persons were working
overtime to frustrate the contract because they were benefiting
immensely from the status quo.
“I won’t say who they are until
it gets out of control,” Mr Amaechi said at an event in Warri in
February. “We are still battling for the contract to take place, but
if it gets out of hand, we will name them, including the security people.”
“These are people who make
billions of dollars from the waters so they don’t want security on the waters,
because if we secure the waters, all this rubbish will go,” the minister added.
He called on ship owners and
other maritime operators to “behave like an activist” and petition the
president to ensure that the contract remained in place as signed.
It was not immediately clear
whether Mr Amaechi was referring to lawmakers at the time.
Executive probe
The recent termination memo
lends credence to the lawmakers’ earlier assertions.
While the executive probe is
underway, the Navy was directed to list its maritime securityrequirements for
funding by NIMASA.
Given the efforts Mr Amaechi
put into the contract, its termination could be seen as a major blow for
the minister, a military source said.
“The minister carried us along
in the contract,” a senior naval officer told PREMIUM TIMES under
anonymity Friday night. “He was able to get the president to sign the contract,
but it seemed the president felt deceived after learning that so many things
were wrong with it.”
Presidential spokespersons Femi Adesina
and Garba Shehu did not return text messages and
phone calls for comments about whether the president carried the minister along
in the termination.
A spokesperson for the Ministry
of Transport, Yewande Shonaike, did not respond to requests for comments about
how the ministry saw the development.
Mr Amaechi had long been
considered one of Mr Buhari’s biggest loyalists in his cabinet, and he is
largely seen as crucial to the president’s re-election efforts.
Late last year, Mr Buhari
retained Mr Amaechi as the director-general of his 2019 campaign.
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