Posted by From Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja on
The Senate yesterday commenced investigations into an alleged improprieties in respect of a N16 billion contract awarded to a foreign company, CONTEC for the registration of aliens in the country.
The Senate yesterday commenced investigations into an alleged improprieties in respect of a N16 billion contract awarded to a foreign company, CONTEC for the registration of aliens in the country.
The Senate would also consider the security implications of contracting the registration of aliens to a foreign company in the course of the public hearing currently being held by the Senate Committee on Internal Affairs.
But concerted efforts by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ambassador Mohammed Mogaji, to halt the presentation of Deputy Comptroller General, Immigration Service, Aliyu Abdullahi, who raised allegations of improprieties in the contract, were frustrated by the committee chairman, Senator Abubakar Sodangi.
Abdullahi had alleged that the registration of aliens in the country was being handled by a foreign company even when such responsibilities are within the purview of the Immigration Service.
According to him, CONTEC would first recoup its expenses put at N4.042 billion by issuing alien cards to foreigners before the Federal Government could begin take over the issuing of the alien cards.
"At the stakeholders meeting held on September 20, 2003 the set-up expenses were resolved to be N4.042, 594,500.00 and the three-year tenure of the contract for the sharing of profit should commence from October 1, 2004 at which date the balance of the set up expenses amounting to N723,204,214.00 would have been fully paid. If not fully paid at that date, recovery should run concurrently with the sharing of revenue.
"It is pertinent to note that CONTEC on 31st March 2005 submitted a financial report stating that the total opportunity loss to CONTEC is N16.06 billion. With this claim, it means the recovery of the set-up expenses may be in perpetuity.
"Contracting out national security functions to a private organization predominantly managed by foreigners is of a high security risk," Abdullahi said.
In his welcome address, Sodangi said "the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who ab initio should be the authority saddled with the control of the alien, business permit and expatriate quotas as enshrined in the law, told our Committee that the service had been contracted out to CONTEC.
"All attempts to obtain up-to-date information regarding this exercise between the Ministry and this organization had been rebuffed with calculated sagacity.
"The contact terms are not known to us; their operations shrouded in unprecedented secrecy," Sodangi said.
Senate President Ken Nnamani described the public hearing as dealing "with significant crises in the departments of government under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"These crises include alleged inefficiencies and secret transactions with regards to the contract between the Federal Government of Nigeria and CONTEC to register expatriates in Nigeria; the problems of adequate provision of food rations to prisoners; and the issues of legalization, regularization and financial mismanagement of the Nigerian Security and Defence Corps," Nnamani added.