A petition has been forwarded to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Usman Alkali Baba, against the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Investment, Dr. Evelyn Ngige by Phantom Digital Technologies Services Limited, over alleged suspicion of fraud, obtaining under false pretences, criminal breach of trust, and other sundry allegations.
The petition, initiated by the company and signed on its behalf by two lawyers: Azeez Taiwo Hassan Esq. and Adaobi Obioma Esq. and made available to the media, demanded the IGP, Baba, to cause a thorough investigation into the allegations levelled against the Permanent Secretary.
The petitioner disclosed that the Permanent Secretary, ab initio, voided the contract for the procurement and supply of the 14 Mikano pick-up vans, executed by the Director, General Services, of the ministry and consequently breached the contract and maliciously misappropriated government funds for personal use, without fulfilling the terms of the contract.
The petition reads in part, “Our client has now realised that fraud has been committed against the company in a bid to unlawfully obtain motor vehicles and drag the company to disrepute and ruin.
“Information available to our client now reveals that this was a ploy set up from the onset to prefer false accusations against the company and its management. It has become evident to us that the Permanent Secretary dubiously issued oral directives to the Director, General Services, of the ministry, only to deny same and question the validity of the contract.
“Notably, the Permanent Secretary acted on the same contract she now seeks to invalidate by receiving the said vehicles and distributing them to various states office of the ministry, and which had been put to use till date.
“We are aware that under the section 4 of Nigeria Police Act, 2020, the Police Force has power to cause investigation to be conducted in order to prevent and detect crimes and protect the rights and freedom of every person in Nigeria, as provided for in the constitution or any other applicable law.”
Against this backdrop, the petitioner, therefore, urged the IGP to “investigate the allegation of sabotage and infringement on the fundamental rights of our client,” and appealed to the number one law enforcement officer in the country to use his good offices to investigate the petition and bring the culprit to book “in order to ensure that our client is protected from unlawful abuse and victimisation.”
Stating what really happened in the petition, the company informed that it has fulfilled its obligations in the contract by supplying a total of 13 vehicles, instead of 14, as agreed in their agreement, owing to the fluctuations in price, resulting from the delay occasioned by the ministry.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ngige, it was gathered, had earlier petitioned the Nigeria Police Force on allegation of theft of vehicles belonging to the ministry and fraudulent misappropriation of the property of the ministry.
The Managing Director of the company, following an earlier petition by the Permanent Secretary, was summoned to the Police Force Headquarters and accused of absconding without supplying one vehicle.
The petitioner, however, revealed that it was “in the course of investigating the petition earlier lodged by the Permanent Secretary, that it was discovered that the contract executed by the Director, General Services, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, on her prompting and directive violated mandatory provisions of the Public Procurement Act.”
The petition goes on thus, “The Permanent Secretary, however, contended that the contract was void ab initio and sought to mandate the company to supply the outstanding vehicle, whilst refusing to pay the difference in price of over N75.6 million only.
“The company has stated that a fraud has been committed against the company in a bid to unlawfully obtain the motor vehicles and drag the company to disrepute and ruin.
“The company alleged that this was a ploy set up from the onset to lay false accusations on the company and its management, as it has become evident that the Permanent Secretary dubiously issued oral directives to the Director, General Services, of the ministry, only to deny same and question the validity of the contract.
“We strongly believe that the Permanent Secretary has singularly conspired to perpetrate this fraud, using the Director, General Services of the ministry as a medium to effectuate her plans. Our client is convinced that the intentions and actions of the Permanent Secretary is (sic) to see our client victimised and prosecuted based on false allegations.
“Given the foregoing, we, therefore, request for an investigation into the actions of the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as regards the procurement process of Pick-Up vans for the ministry.
“It is important to note that the 2021 budget for the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment made provision for the procurement of 20 new vehicles, but at the time the procurement process had begun, the amount of money allocated to this could only accommodate 14 new vehicles.
“Also worthy of note is the fact that these vehicles were purchased in United States, US, dollars and only converted to naira to facilitate the demand of the aforementioned sum from the ministry. However, with the fluctuations in conversion rates, the sum total of money due to our client as of date has varied and now totals N75.6 million only.”
Concluding, the petitioner insisted that “in the light of the above, we believe that this economic sabotage and infringement on the fundamental rights being hatched against our client by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, which is in contravention of relevant provisions of the Criminal Code and Penal Code, amongst others, is within the mandate of the Force.”
