N255m Car Deal: Stella Oduah’s Poor Defence
I honestly do not understand the relevance of slowing down
to read her side of the story. I posted her side of the story
and I have read it, at least twice. Even by her own account,
there were several breaches of the Public Procurement Act,
2007 and the Appropriation Act; some of them criminal.
Due process was NOT followed. Following due process
requires a little bit more than for someone to simply say
"due process was followed."
Media Rights Agenda and our partner organisation, Public
and Private Development Centre (PPDC) have already
submitted a joint request to the NCAA under the Freedom
of Information Act for all the relevant procurement records
and information. As soon as we receive them, we will
conduct a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the
process and highlight the several grave breaches of the law.
In the event that we do not get the records, while we are
suing them, we will conduct the analysis based on her side
of the story that she has told.
But in the interim, several things are already obvious,
including the fact that there was no budgetary provision
made either in the NCAA's budget or in the ministry of
aviation's budget for the purchase of the bullet proof cars.
We have their respective budgets and there is no such
allocation. Information from the National Assembly
collaborates this because the National Assembly has said it
did not approve any proposal for the purchase of such cars.
Secondly, you can read her story over and over again and
you will find that there was no advertisement of the call for
Expression of Interest from interested banks to finance the
purchase of the armoured cars. There was similarly no
advertisement of the solicitation for bids or invitation to
bidders for prospective suppliers of such vehicles to put in
their bids. These are mandatory requirements of the law to
ensure "Open Competitive Bidding," whether national or
international, which is one of the fundamental pillars of the
current public procurement regime, put in place precisely to
end these sorts of practices.
If you look at her account, you will see that there is no way
the various time frames provided in the law could have been
met. Although in theory, some of these requirements can
be waived in certain circumstances, she herself has not
suggested that either the NCAA or the ministry of aviation
applied for or obtained any waiver. Indeed, the Bureau of
Public Procurement has said the procurement was never
brought to its attention so, clearly, no waiver could have
been given. The list of breaches goes on and on! Due
process was definitely not followed.
Another fundamental principle of the public procurement
regime is that public procurements must demonstrate value
for money. Anyone who has done any sort of research
knows that you can get those two vehicles for no more than
N60 million. We are assuming at this point that they cost us
N255 million. If you followed the evidence coming out of
the National Assembly yesterday, you will be aware that
First Bank pre-financed the purchase of the two cars along
with other NCAA vehicles to the tune of N643 million which
the NCAA would pay back with interest of about N500
million over a period of 36 months under its agreement with
First Bank.
When you apply the interest on a pro-rated basis, you will
realise that just these two cars are actually costing Nigerian
citizens at least N453 million. Does buying something that
should not cost you more than N60 million for over N453
million sound like getting value for money, even if one
overlooks the fact of whether or not the vehicles were
necessary?
And it is precisely to avoid such pre-financing arrangements
where the country is further duped that the Public
Procurement Act provided that you cannot do any public
procurement if you do not have an approved allocation for
the goods, works or services in your budget.
In other words, you should have money before you go
procuring anything. This was blatantly and recklessly
breached with the result that the NCAA will be paying
interest of N500 million on a loan of N643 million. Would
you enter into such an arrangement with your own money?
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
to read her side of the story. I posted her side of the story
and I have read it, at least twice. Even by her own account,
there were several breaches of the Public Procurement Act,
2007 and the Appropriation Act; some of them criminal.
Due process was NOT followed. Following due process
requires a little bit more than for someone to simply say
"due process was followed."
Media Rights Agenda and our partner organisation, Public
and Private Development Centre (PPDC) have already
submitted a joint request to the NCAA under the Freedom
of Information Act for all the relevant procurement records
and information. As soon as we receive them, we will
conduct a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the
process and highlight the several grave breaches of the law.
In the event that we do not get the records, while we are
suing them, we will conduct the analysis based on her side
of the story that she has told.
But in the interim, several things are already obvious,
including the fact that there was no budgetary provision
made either in the NCAA's budget or in the ministry of
aviation's budget for the purchase of the bullet proof cars.
We have their respective budgets and there is no such
allocation. Information from the National Assembly
collaborates this because the National Assembly has said it
did not approve any proposal for the purchase of such cars.
Secondly, you can read her story over and over again and
you will find that there was no advertisement of the call for
Expression of Interest from interested banks to finance the
purchase of the armoured cars. There was similarly no
advertisement of the solicitation for bids or invitation to
bidders for prospective suppliers of such vehicles to put in
their bids. These are mandatory requirements of the law to
ensure "Open Competitive Bidding," whether national or
international, which is one of the fundamental pillars of the
current public procurement regime, put in place precisely to
end these sorts of practices.
If you look at her account, you will see that there is no way
the various time frames provided in the law could have been
met. Although in theory, some of these requirements can
be waived in certain circumstances, she herself has not
suggested that either the NCAA or the ministry of aviation
applied for or obtained any waiver. Indeed, the Bureau of
Public Procurement has said the procurement was never
brought to its attention so, clearly, no waiver could have
been given. The list of breaches goes on and on! Due
process was definitely not followed.
Another fundamental principle of the public procurement
regime is that public procurements must demonstrate value
for money. Anyone who has done any sort of research
knows that you can get those two vehicles for no more than
N60 million. We are assuming at this point that they cost us
N255 million. If you followed the evidence coming out of
the National Assembly yesterday, you will be aware that
First Bank pre-financed the purchase of the two cars along
with other NCAA vehicles to the tune of N643 million which
the NCAA would pay back with interest of about N500
million over a period of 36 months under its agreement with
First Bank.
When you apply the interest on a pro-rated basis, you will
realise that just these two cars are actually costing Nigerian
citizens at least N453 million. Does buying something that
should not cost you more than N60 million for over N453
million sound like getting value for money, even if one
overlooks the fact of whether or not the vehicles were
necessary?
And it is precisely to avoid such pre-financing arrangements
where the country is further duped that the Public
Procurement Act provided that you cannot do any public
procurement if you do not have an approved allocation for
the goods, works or services in your budget.
In other words, you should have money before you go
procuring anything. This was blatantly and recklessly
breached with the result that the NCAA will be paying
interest of N500 million on a loan of N643 million. Would
you enter into such an arrangement with your own money?
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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