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The Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit in the Presidency, has refused to issue a Due Process Certificate for the scanner contract under the destination inspection scheme being proposed for the country.
The Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit in the Presidency, has refused to issue a Due Process Certificate for the scanner contract under the destination inspection scheme being proposed for the country.
The refusal, which was based on the discovery by the due process office that the contract was allegedly over-valued by about $50million, is likely to further extend the take-off date of the scheme proposed by the Federal Government five years ago.
A report to this effect called for a renegotiation of the proposed contract with all the bidders or alternative scanner deployment plans to be commenced to create a level-playing field, and also demanded a $50million reduction in the costs across all the equipment to be employed.
The Ministry of Finance in a letter addressed to President Olusegun Obasanjo, last week, expressed fears over the imminent delay due to the questions raised by the BMPIU, which had studied and reviewed the final report of the Presidential Committee on Destination Inspection.
The BMPUI had observed that the implementation report left out land posts of Jibia, Katsina State, and Banki, Borno State, in the list of 17 Customs offices/formations for the installation of the Automated System of Customs Data, and stressed the need to reconcile the risk management modules of each of the three scanner providers and ASYCUDA's modules.
In the letter, the ministry said, 'It has become imperative to request Mr. President to graciously implore the Presidential Implementation Committee to expedite action and prevail on the Senior Assistant to the President and Head of BMPIU, to work on the committee in order to facilitate conclusion of whatever remains to be done in good time.
'The import of this letter is to intimate you of the position of things regarding the implementation of the destination inspection and ASYCUDA projects and seek your assistance for the organs of government to expedite action so that the project will take off with minimum delay."
Messrs Cotecna, SGS, and Globescan Systems, were earlier pre-qualified by the Presidential Committee after an open bidding last October, but the results were cancelled on the grounds of alleged malpractice by one of the winners.
The foreign companies were to install scanners for the project in Nigerian ports on a build, own and transfer arrangement to replace the pre-shipment scheme that has been operated in the country for the past 28 years.
THE PUNCH, August 08, 2005