Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria have asked the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN, to obey a subsisting court order in respect of a dispute on the multi-million Naira E-Customs Modernisation Project.
The senior lawyers, Messrs Dipo Okpeseyi and Ahmed Raji, in separate letters, warned the AGF, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha against “underhand efforts being made to obtain the Federal Executive Council’s approval and or ratification of the re-award of the E-Customs Modernisation Project.”
While recalling the 2019 FEC approval of the project, Okpeseyi said “the Nigeria Customs Service without consulting with our client as the lead sponsor of the consortium, altered the Federal Executive Council’s approval and ratified Negotiated Concessionaire Agreement and all efforts to reach and amicable resolution of the issues proved abortive. Consequently, our client initiated a suit at the Federal High Court Abuja Division in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/848/2022 between E-Customs HC Projects Limited and Bionica Technologies WA Limited-v- Federal Government of Nigeria & Others….”
“It is in spite of all these that the Nigeria Customs Service is pushing to have the FEC grant another approval with the sole purpose to embarrass, over reach and undermine the earlier approval and ratification by the FEC and prejudice the matter pending in court,” the silk said.
The letter therefore asked the FEC “to suspend, discontinue or discountenance any request to initiate deliberations or a fresh request for approval for the award of the said contract to any other bidder aside our client so as not to embarrass FEC for making a single award twice, breach the Rule of Law and prejudice the interest of our client in the subject matter, pending the final determination of the above named suit by the Court.”
Also in his letter, Raji wrote: “It has come to our knowledge that despite the court’s admonition as aforesaid, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, at the behest of the Nigeria Customs Service, is making concerted effort towards presenting a memo to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for its approval and/or ratification of the re-award of the said project to the 6th Defendant.
“We do not believe that the aforesaid line of action by the Ministry is with your knowledge or counsel, and it is for this reason that we write you most respectfully, to use your good offices on your Ministry to desist from the said line of action, as well as any other step(s) that may be antithetical to the pending proceedings in court.”
The Federal High Court in Abuja had in June, 2022, restrained the federal government from enforcing or giving effect to an agreement on the Customs Modernisation Project otherwise known as E- Customs allegedly executed by its agents on May 30, 2022.
On 20 February, 2023, the court had admonished all parties in the matter to preserve the res of any matter before court and do nothing to interfere with the proceedings.
The agents who allegedly executed the disputed concession agreement are the Nigeria Customs Service, Trade Modernization Project Limited, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited and African Finance Corporation.
