Witness clears Ex NIMASA DG Of Contract Splitting

Federal High Court sitting in Lagos was,
yesterday, told that former Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA,

Director-General, Raymond Omatseye, awarded
contracts in accordance with the Procurement
Act.
Omatseye is standing trial on an amended 27-
count charge of alleged bid rigging.
At the resumed hearing in the case, a
subpoenaed witness, Mr Abdulahi Mohammed,
from the Federal Ministry of Justice, told the
court that all contracts awarded by the accused
were within the threshold allowed by the Act.
Led in evidence by defence counsel, Mr Edoka
Onyeke, the witness said that on February 13,
2013, a letter was received from the office of
the Chief of Staff.
He said that the letter urged the Attorney-
General of the Federation to act on a letter it
received from the Bureau of Public Procurement,
BPP, which absolved Omatseye of approving
contracts above his threshold.
''The letter, which was signed by Chief Mike
Oghiadomhe, was received, stamped and
forwarded to the former Attorney-General of the
Federation. The A-G minuted it to the Solicitor-
General who forwarded same to the Director of
Public Prosecution, DPP.
''The DPP in turn, minuted same to a lawyer
for action as is done in the ministry.'' He said
The witness, however, told the court that when
the file came back to him, it was marked ''keep
in view.''
He said that the file remained there, until it was
subpoena by the Federal High Court, Lagos.
According to the witness, an internal memo with
reference number BPP/PRES/2013/04 noted that
all procurement by the accused were within the
approved thresholds of NIMASA.
After listening to the witness, the court
adjourned the case to February 22, 2016 for
continuation.
The accused is charged by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with
contract splitting and bid rigging to the tune of
N1.5 billion.