Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria; Messrs Ahmed Raji and Dipo Okpeseyi, have asked the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to obey a court order in respect of a dispute on the multi-million Naira E-Customs Modernisation project.
The senior lawyers, in separate letters, called the attention of the AGF; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and Secretary to the Government of the Federation to what they termed ‘underhand efforts being made to obtain the Federal Executive Council’s approval and or ratification of the re-award of the E-Customs Modernization Project.’
Specifically, the lawyers are asking the Federal Executive Council to suspend, discontinue or disregard any request to initiate deliberations or a fresh request for approval for the award of the said contract to any other bidder apart from the original approval granted by FEC to Messrs E-Customs Project Limited.
‘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’ said Mr. Okpeseyi in his letter to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation which was dated April 11, 2023.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court sitting 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 February 20, 2023, the court had urged all parties in the matter to preserve the res of any matter before court and do nothing to interfere with the proceedings. The court also issued an order of interim injunction against the Federal Government or its agents, acting through the Federal Executive Council, from retrospectively ratifying the decision to concession the Customs Modernisation Project also known as e- customs project to Trade Modernization Project Limited, Huawei Technologies Company Limited and African Finance Corporation.
The restraining order issued by Justice Ekwo shall last till the hearing and the determination of a suit brought against the Federal Government and other parties by two aggrieved companies and hearing in the case resumes today, April 19 but the plaintiffs have raised an alarm that the Minister of Finance and the AGF are going ahead to present a new memo to FEC on the matter despite a restraining court order.
The two aggrieved companies, E-customs HC Project Limited and Bionica Technologies (West Africa) Limited jointly challenged the alleged unlawful and fraudulent concession of the E-custom project to the defendants.
Counsel for the two aggrieved companies, Anone Usman had on their behalf argued an ex-parte application praying the Federal High Court for the interim orders against the defendants to protect the interest of his clients.
Justice Ekwo while ruling on the ex-parte application granted the prayers of the plaintiff having placed sufficient evidence of interest in the concession project.
The judge also granted permission to the aggrieved companies to serve a writ of summons and all other filed processes on the African Finance Corporation at its head office, located in Ikoyi, Lagos through DHL courier services.
The learned defendants in the suit are the Federal Government of Nigeria; Attorney-General of the Federation; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; the Infrastructure Regulatory Concession Commission; Nigeria Customs Service; Trade Modernization Project Limited; Huawei Technologies Limited; African Finance Corporation and Bergman Security Consultant and Supply Limited being 1st to 9th defendants respectively.
They claimants had applied for an order of the court directing the Federal Government through the AGF, Finance Minister, ICRC and NCS to consummate the E- customs project with the 1st plaintiff as approved by FEC in September 2020. The two plaintiffs also asked the court to compel the defendants to pay them a sum of two hundred million naira as cost of litigation.
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