Group Accuses EFCC of Bias on N13.7bn Warri Channel Dredging Contract

ABIOLA Seun

Cadrell Advocacy Center, a non- governmental advocacy group has disagreed with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the controversial N13.7 billion Warri Channel Dredging contract awarded by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) to Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited.

The group in a response to a recent report credited to the EFCC and reported by an online medium (not nigeriamaritime360.com) where it absolved NPA of wrong doing accused EFCC of bias.

In a statement by Evans Ufeli Esq, Executive Director, the group said it was not surprised that the anti-corruption agency absolved the parties involved but “however shocked that the same EFCC that had invited us to their office countless times for statements and interrogation did not deem it fit to oblige us a copy of the report before sending it to press”.

Recall that the group had earlier petitioned EFCC to probe NPA concerning the bid which resulted in investigations by the House of Representatives and Bureau of Public Procurement.

According to them, contrary to EFCC’s report that Dredging international services limited is not a convicted company, a study of the incorporation documents of Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja reveals that, Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited is partly owned by Dredging and Environmental Services Nigeria Limited with 49,500,000 shares and Dredging International NV with 500,000 shareholding.

It said, “We therefore must advice and must warn that, while the EFCC is not leaving any stone unturned in their effort to extradite Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke to face alleged corruption charges in Nigeria, they must not be seen to be creating another “Diezani” for this administration.

“Our decision position is born out of the fact that in the cause of investigations, all our plea to EFCC to request for the original Bid documents to enable them carry out a forensic analysis of “same to determine if truly the documents were indeed swapped as alleged by one of the Bidders fell on deaf ears. Yet the EFCC went ahead to write a report without resolving that issue and most of the issues that came up in the cause of their investigation, one way or the other.”

“Contrary to EFCC’s report, the conclusion reached by EFCC, rather raised more questions for NPA and Dredging International Services Limited to answer than provide answers to our allegations.

“Firstly, the EFCC in its report concluded that, “Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited (DISNL) is not a convicted company” and went further to hold that “The Company wasn’t at the time of the award of the contract managed or partly owned by any convicted person”

“The EFCC report went further to state that the companies indicted were Dredging International Services Cyprus (DISC) and Dredging International NV”

“For ease of reference, may we kindly reproduce here the provisions of Section 16 subsection 8 (f) of the Bureau of Public Procurement Act, 2007 which states;

“S.16 (8) whenever it is established by a procuring entity to the Bureau that any or combination of the situation set out exists a bidder may have its bid or tender excluded from any particular procurement proceeding if the bidder have been validly sentenced for a crime committed in connection with the procurement proceeding or any other crime committed to gain financial profits.

“(f) The bidder has its management or is in any portion owned by any person that have been validly sentenced for a crime committed in connection with the procurement proceeding or other crime committed to gain financial profits. (italics ours)

“A study of the incorporation documents of Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja reveals that, Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited is partly owned by Dredging and Environmental Services Nigeria Limited with 49,500,000 shares and Dredging International NV with 500,000 shareholding (which said company EFCC reported as one of the convicted company in the Bonny Channel Dredging Contract awarded by NPA to Dredging International Services Cyprus”.

Cadrell stated that the exclusion of other fourteen bidders on the basis of none availability of Tax documents, deposed affidavit, ITF, PENCOM & TCC (as contained in their letter to the Ministerial Tender Board and also repeated in the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport’s, letter to the Bureau of Public Procurement dated 6thFebruary, 2018 at pages 3 & 4 of the said letter.)

The group further stated that EFCC and NPA would apply the rule across board and not hold on to legal technicalities to continually award huge contracts of such nature to companies partly owned by convicted company.

“Assuming, but without conceding that since the operating words used in the Public Procurement Act is “MAY” which gives a discretion to NPA in excluding any Bidder from the bidding proceeding, one may be constrained to ask, “why then did the NPA use the criterion listed in the same Section 16 (8) (a-g) particularly paragraph (d) to disqualify about fourteen (14) companies from the Bidding proceedings? Wherein about 14 Bidders were disqualified on the basis of none availability of Tax documents, deposed affidavit, ITF, PENCOM & TCC(as contained in their letter to the Ministerial Tender Board and also repeated in the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport’s, letter to the Bureau of Public Procurement dated 6thFebruary, 2018 at pages 3 & 4 of the said letter.)

“Further, one would expect that being an anti-corruption agency in a government that seriously frowns at any act/form of corruption and economic crime/sabotage, the EFCC and NPA would apply the rule across board and not hold on to legal technicalities to continually award huge contracts of such nature to companies partly owned by convicted company (according to EFCC report).

“A cursory look at the Annual Statement of Affairs of DISNL will also show that companies which contributes to the financial figures of Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited, includes, Dredging International Cyprus, which the EFCC admitted is a convicted company.

The group also informed that in 2007 NPA awarded to Dredging International Cyprus through a Joint Venture Agreement the contract for the dredging and maintenance of the Bonny Channel River in Bonny, Rivers State.

This led to the establishment of Bonny Channel Company limited, from which inception and all material time is owned 60 per cent by NPA and 40 per cent by Dredging International Services Cyprus, having on its Board of Directors, the Managing Director of NPA, M/s. Hadiza Bala Usman, as Chairman of BCC, with Bert Wille as Managing Director, among others.

“In 2007 or thereabout, NPA awarded to Dredging International Cyprus through a Joint Venture Agreement the contract for the dredging and maintenance of the Bonny Channel River in Bonny, Rivers State.

“In furtherance of the Joint Venture, a Special Purpose Vehicle “SPV” known as Bonny Channel Company Ltd. (BCC), was established by NPA and Dredging International Services Cyprus.

“The Special Purpose Vehicle (Bonny Channel Management Company Ltd BCC) from which inception and all material time is owned 60 per cent by NPA and 40 per cent by Dredging International Services Cyprus, has on its Board of Directors, the Managing Director of NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala- Usman, as Chairman of BCC, with Bert Wille as Managing Director, while Poppe Steven, Mohammed Bello-Koko, and Idris Abubakar serve as Directors, while Hadiza Bala Usman, the MD of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, and Idris Abubakar represents NPA’s interest on the said BCC (Bonny Channel Company Limited) board. The duo of Bert Wille and Poppe Steven represents the interest of Dredging International Services, Cyprus (whose current holding Company is The Channel Management Company TCMC). These companies have the same offices at Alfred Rewane, Street Lagos, Nigeria.”

“It was the relationship stated above that enabled the facilitation of the bribe between officials of Dredging International Services, Cyprus (owners of 40 per cent shares in Bonny Channel Company) and officials of NPA (owners of 60 per cent share in Bonny Channel Company) which was the subject matter that led to the conviction of Dredging International Services, Cyprus, and its official by a Swiss Court in 2012. It should however be noted that at the time, the current board of the NPA was not yet in place.

Despite the conviction of Dredging international services and its official by a court in Switzerland for bribing officials of the NPA over the award and payments made in respect of the contract, the group alleged that NPA still went ahead to award the contract to dredging international services.

“The said Bonny Channel Dredging contract referred to above is still on-going despite the company’s conviction by a court in Switzerland for bribing officials of the NPA over the award and payments made in respect of the contract.

“The investigation and conviction started in 2012, when the office of the Attorney General, Department of International Affairs, Switzerland, investigated and subsequently prosecuted Dredging International Services Cyprus, a sister company of Dredging International Services Nig. Ltd (both subsidiaries of DEME Group Belgium), on the allegation that officials of Dredging International Services, Cyprus bribed some officials of the NPA to the tune of Twenty Million U.S. Dollars ($20, 000,00)

“The Company, Dredging International Services Cyprus, was subsequently convicted on the 2nd of May, 2012, and fined One Million Swiss Francs, by the court for bribing Nigerian officials. At that time, Mr. Bart Vandemeulebroucke and Mr. Steven Poppe were both Directors in Dredging International Services, Cyprus and also Directors of Dredging International Services Nigeria. And till date, they still remain Directors in both Companies, including Willie Bert.

“Swiss Prosecutors were able to prove at the trial that Dredging International Services Cyprus, from 2007 to 2012, wired huge bribes to offshore companies whose real beneficial owners were Nigerian officials.

“According to the Prosecutors, by virtue of an investigation lunched in 2011, this bribery was discovered when Credit Suisse alerted Swiss authorities of some suspicious transfers made by Dredging International.

“Investigations revealed that to arrange the bribery scheme and/or fraudulent transfers, Dredging International hired the services of a Geneva based asset management company, Driancourt&Cie, and its director Alain Driancourt, who set up three offshore companies with Credit Suisse and EFG Bank accounts.

“The accounts referred to above, were regularly topped up by Dredging International, Cyprus and payment orders given by two of her Swiss Executives. Each of the Executives earned bonuses of E800, 000 eight hundred thousand euros and two million, seven hundred thousand euros (Euros 2.7 million), respectively.

“Because of the existing special relationship between the Dredging International as a result of the Joint Venture, Each year, the NPA awarded dredging contracts worth (US$ 70 million) to companies under the DEME Group, Dredging International Services, Cyprus and Dredging International Services, Nigeria, without competitive bidding, as required by Nigerian Laws.

“S. 57(9)(a)(b) & (12)(b) of the Public Procurement Act 2007, it says, “Every public officer involved directly or indirectly in matters of public procurement and disposal of assets shall divest himself of any interest or relationship which are potentially inimical or detrimental to the best interest of government and the underline principle of this act.

“NPA having breach the above quoted provisions of the Public Procurement Act, the EFCC report was also conveniently silent on NPA’s breach of the said provisions of the law, by not resolving in one way or the other, “if NPA ought to have informed other parties of their financial relationship with a Bidder in a procurement proceeding, when during a Bidding Process, NPA’s Director were already in a fiduciary relationship with a Bidder in the proceedings without the knowledge of other Bidders, as is the case with NPA and Dredging International Services Cyprus, in Bonny Channel Company, whose Directors were also Directors in Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited as the likelihood of bias on the part of NPA in favour of Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited is very high”, it added.