ABUJA, August 13, (THEWILL) – Past and current chairmen of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professors Maurice Iwu and Attahiru Jega have been fingered in a procurement fraud, after papers claimed at the Federal High Court in Abuja revealed that the Commission fraudulently applied for and received waivers to the tune of N5.2bn for ballot boxes and papers used for the 2007 general elections.
Managing Director of Beddings Holdings Limited, Dr. Sylvester Odigie explained how the fraud was perpetrated in an affidavit filed to counter an application to set aside an earlier judgment, which declared as illegal, the use of the collapsible transparent ballot boxes for the 2011 general elections by INEC without the consent of the owner of the patent right to them.
In the judgement, Justice Adamu Bello had barred the electoral body from using the boxes for subsequent polls, including the 14th July Edo governorship elections, without first seeking the approval of the patent owner, Bedding Holdings Ltd.
Odigie alleged that INEC conspired with private companies to perpetrate sharp practices in the procurement process of the ballot boxes used for both the 2007 and 2011 general elections.
“Emchai procured the Collapsible Transparent Ballot Boxes from the Far East at a unit cost of 7.89 British Pounds, which translated to a mere N1,815.85k per unit at N230.00 to a pound,” he said.
“Despite the monumental fraud perpetrated and the astronomical gains made by the company, the chief executive of INEC, under the administration of Professor Maurice Iwu, caused an Application for Exemption/Waiver of Import Duties/Other Taxes and Pre-Shipment Inspection in Respect of the Materials for 2007 General Elections, which was approved by the president, thereby making the company, in collaboration with Iwu, cart away the whopping sum of N552,000,000.00 being deductions of 5 per cent tax and 5 per cent vat respectively in the two payments received for this particular contract.”
Odigie further deposed that apart from benefitting from the aforementioned multiple waivers, Emchai Limited, using this approval, collected back N552,000.000.00, being deductions of 5 per cent tax and 5 per cent vat with the backing of the chief executive of INEC, shy of the N544,755,000.00 actually paid for the 300,000 units at the rate of N1,815.85k per unit being the purchase price of the patented products.
“This means, by implication, that the company and its collaborators got additional N7, 245,000.00 to their credit in respect of the same contract without spending a dime,” he added, also complaining that Jega ignored the several letters he wrote, informing the Commission of the alleged fraud and that he owned the patent to the ballot boxes.
Jega was alleged to have sustained the fraudulent activities of his predecessor, Iwu, in the procurement process of additional 150,000 transparent ballot boxes used for the 2011 polls.
Specifically, Odigie alleged that companies with insufficient share capital were used for selective tender and bidding for the procurement of the multi-billion naira ballot boxes procurement contract.
Jega was also accused of fraudulently misrepresenting facts to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the approving authority for the contract, in order to favour a preferred company, EMCHAI Limited, for the contract.
The deponent alleged that EMCHAI, which was awarded the contract for the procurement of the ballot boxes, in addition to using fake patent for bidding, had insufficient share capital of 10,000 with which it bided for the multi-billion naira contract.
Another company allegedly used for the selective bidding for the transparent ballot boxes procurement process by INEC under Jega was ANOWAT Project and Resources Ltd, which, according to search carried out at the Corporate Affairs Commission, was hurriedly registered on 22nd September 2010, barely two months to the date (15th November 2010) when Jega raised memo to the Federal Executive Council in respect of the contract.
No date has been fixed yet for hearing on the case due to the current vacation of the court.
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