Chinese company sues Amaechi, Malami over alleged N91.5bn rail contract inflation scam
A Chinese construction company, Hebbelyixin Fastener Company Limited, has filed a suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja, against the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami (SAN), over an alleged N91.5 billion rail contract inflation scam.
The plaintiff is joined by a consortium of companies in Nigeria, namely, Duluidas Nigeria Limited, Duliz Dredging and Construction Limited and Consortium of Duluidas Nigeria Limited.
The plaintiffs allege that the disputed contract was for reconstruction of a narrow gauge track from Minna, in Niger State to Baro, with extension to Baro River Port, to be completed within 36 months.
They allege in the suit presided by Justice Ahmed Mohammed that Amaechi and Malami awarded a 190km rail line construction worth N91.5 billion to another Chinese firm, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), without due process.
Marked as Case No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1426/2021, the plaintiffs listed the CCECC as co-defendants and prayed the court for an injunction restraining all the defendants from “awarding or purporting to award the contract to the CCECC firm or any third party on the basis of the allegedly flawed bidding process.”
James Okoh, the lead counsel to the plaintiffs, in his writ of summons prayed the Court to cancel the “No Objection letter issued by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in favour of CCECC for award of the N91.5 billion rail line contract, in breach of procurement laws, and re-issue same in their favour.”
The plaintiffs claim to have successfully bidded for the same contract and quoted a lesser amount of N76.7 billion for the execution of the project, but were shortchanged by the two ministers in favour of CCECC at the inflated rate, alleging bias against them by the minister and undue favouritism in favour of the CCECC.
They also claim in their writ of summons that Amaechi had, on May 19, 2021, written the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for a certificate of no objection in favour of CCECC in the sum of N91, 580, 101, 710 and that by a letter of June 9, 2021, the BPP rejected the Minister’s request on the claim that such certificate can only be issued to them on the basis of their quotation of N76.7b to execute the job.
“Along the line, other bidding processes were manipulated and compromised, leading to receipt of an acceptance letter by the NRC from CCECC for the Minister to be presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the purpose of the award of the contract,” the plaintiffs argued.
The plaintiffs therefore prayed the court to declare that the action of the Ministers and their agents in interfering with the bid process for the contract damaged the integrity of the process of law.
“In the alternative, we are seeking an order setting aside any purported award on the basis of the alleged flawed and heavily compromised bid process by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) with concurrence of other defendants.
“We are also seeking an order restraining the Minister of Transportation or any of his agents from presenting the CCECC to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the purpose of awarding the contract,” the plaintiffs argued before the court.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed fixed February 17, 2022 for hearing of the matter after the mentioning of the case.
