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Tag: contract

  • Keshi gives conditions for new contract

    Keshi gives conditions for new contract

    Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi after meeting with the Sports Minister yesterday told Abuja based sports reporters that he won’t accept any new contract from the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) unless it is in consonant with his terms and conditions.

    Speaking as bold and resolute as ever, the history making coach said there are many violated clauses in the initial contract he signed with the NFF and this time around he wants to guard against this.

    “If they agree to my condition, why not? Like I said I have started something here in Nigeria which I would love to finish if everything comes good but if not, I will like to move my trade  somewhere else, It is always a good experience when you go out there and do something different.

    “It is not just South Africa that want me. They are the ones who have gone to the media to make it public, lots of countries want me”.

    “No need to bring in sympathy here, I have served this country very well. It is about professionalism now. I have kids in the university who I have to take care of. Sympathy will not take care of my kids and family,” Keshi stated bluntly.

    The former Super Eagles Captain insisted on new contractual terms and complained bitterly based on the alleged neglect of certain clauses in the intial contract. “The definition of a contract is when two parties talk and agree on what is suitable and not suitable. You cannot just give me an offer and say sign and I will sign, it does not make sense,” Keshi said.

    “Any trip I take to the US to see my family is from my pocket, for a year and a half I have been paying my assistant coach Valeri salary, which is not supposed to be. Silvanus Okpala is not in the team for no reason.

    “If they agree to my condition, why not. Like I said I have started something here in Nigeria which I will love to finish.

    He, however, stated that the choice of where to go in the future will not be any problem as he has lots of offers.

    The former Super Eagles Captain stated that he has been very patriotic and will like to finish what he started by grooming these players for the next two years but that as a professional he does not work with sympathy.

    “No need to bring in sympathy here, I have served this country very well. It is about professionalism now. I have kids in the university who I have to take care of. Sympathy will not take care of my kids and family,” Keshi said.

  • Chelsea to extend Omeruo’s contract

    Chelsea to extend Omeruo’s contract

    • Eagles defender to train with Middlesbrough Tuesday

    Impressed Chelsea are to extend Kenneth Omeruo’s contract soon, his adviser Conleth Chika Akujobi has informed MTNFootball.com

    The contract of the 20-year-old Omeruo at Stamford Bridge will be up in June 2015 and Akujobi has specially revealed that talks are on-going for a new deal for the highly promising defender.

    “Chelsea are happy with Kenneth and they will extend his contract as a result,” he said.

    Akujobi will join Omeruo from his Dutch base of Rotterdam today for the trip to English Championship side Middlesbrough, where the player has agreed a five-month loan deal. The Nigeria star spent a season and a half at Dutch club ADO Den Haag on loan from Chelsea.

    “Kenneth was at Middlesbrough and he liked what he saw there and has accepted to move on loan there till the end of the season,” Akujobi said.

    “They were once in the Premier League and so have some great facilities and also have ambitions of coming up again. We will be back at Middlesbrough on Monday to finalise the paper work for his loan deal and he could even begin training with his new club on Tuesday.”

    Former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni featured for ‘Boro when they were in the top flight.

  • Amoo’s Sunshine contract not renewed

    Amoo’s Sunshine contract not renewed

    MTNFootball.com has been told the contract of designated Nigeria U-23 coach Fatai Amoo will not be renewed by Sunshine Stars FC’s management.

    A top source said Amoo’s contract was not renewed because he failed to qualify Sunshine Stars for international football next year.

    “Amoo’s contract was not renewed because he failed to achieve the set target which was a continental ticket, instead the team battled for survival,” the top source told MTNFootball.com.

    “The word sack is not ideal because the coaching crew except the TA, Fatai Amoo, signed a year’s contract, which expired at the end of the season, so they are out of contract. Amoo joined the team during the season and had a contract to tinker the team till the end of the season.”

    In the same vein, the contracts of the technical crew of Sunshine Queens and Rising Stars were also not renewed because OSFA want to reposition the team.

    Sunshine Queens had five coaches last season and the last was Kennedy Boboye, while Sunday Emmanuel, an ex-Sunshine Stars, and Apa United coach last handled Rising Stars.

  • Fed Govt awards 2nd Niger Bridge contract to Julius Berger on PPP

    The Federal Government has issued a letter of intent on the construction of the second Niger Bridge to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc under a proposed public private partnership (PPP).

    Managing Director, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Mr. Wolfgang Goetsch, stated this yesterday at a post-Annual General Meeting (AGM) media briefing.

    He said private public partnership involves the federal government as the sponsor, Julius Berger Nigeria as the major partner and some other international investors.

    According to him, Julius Berger submitted the bid for the bridge in December 2012 and was chosen the preferred bidder in January and the latest issuance of letter of intent was a further consolidation of the project agreement.

    He said the Federal Government is still in continuous discussion with his company, which is expected to play a major role in the financing of the bridge.

    “We hopefully wish to start at the end of the year. We have been issued the letter of intent. We are already on sight and we will play a major role in the financial close,” Goetsch said.

    He noted that Julius Berger would leverage on the potential benefit of PPP to diversify its business portfolio in spite of the challenges inherent in such arrangement.

    Chairman, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, AVM Nurudeen Imam, outlined that the company would step up its business development efforts by exploring opportunities in alternative financing models including options such as public private partnership (PPP) and build-operate-transfer (BOT).

    Any option of the PPP involving financial contribution from Julius Berger Nigeria and other investors implies that the private sector partners would be given agreed period to recoup their investments through tolling on the bridge.

    Goetsch said the company has started the mobilisation for the Lagos-Sagamu Expressway assuring that as one of the busiest roads in Nigeria and even beyond, the company would put all its expertise together to design a construction plan that would ease the pain of motorists on the road as it works on the road.

    He attributed the delay in some of the company’s major projects including the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and Abuja airport road to inadequate funding, pointing out that the company places emphasis on delivery within schedules.

  • Fed Govt to probe Calabar Port dredging contract

    The Federal Government is set to probe the Calabar port dredging contract allegedly awarded by the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi.

    The deal was awarded to Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited, which was said to have neither bidded nor taken part in the selection before the Presidential approval was sought, The Nation has learnt.

    The Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) for the contract was said to have been signed by NPA and the company on January 25, this year.

    Abdullahi, sources said, has between this and next week to explain to the Federal Government what happened and why the multi-billion naira dredging contract agreement was signed with a company that has prior records with NPA and without following the due process.

    Both the Presidency and the ministry, sources further said, have directed that the matter be investigated based on the petition sent to the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar by the Chairman, Board of NPA, Tony Anenih, over the award of the contract.

    Anenih had in a five-page letter dated April 25, 2013, titled: Appointment of Calabar Channel Management Company Limited to Manage the Calabar Channel Under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Agreement with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) sent to the Minister, raised questions about the award of the contract, which he alleged did not follow due process.

    The NPA chairman also called for the reappraisal of the contract and questioned the basis for choosing the consortium to manage the company.

    ”The purpose of this letter is to respectfully draw the attention of the Honourable Minister to the Joint Venture Agreement, which was made on the 25th of January, 2013, between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Consortium lead (sic) by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited.

    ”The said Agreement created a partnership arrangement between NPA and the Consortium and gave the Consortium the right to operate a Joint Venture Company, Calabar Channel Management Company Limited, where NPA holds 60 per cent equity and the Consortium 40 per cent.

    ”The circumstances that led to this Joint Venture Agreement and the terms, need reappraisal in view of the fact that as at the time the Agreement was signed, there was no reference records of the Consortium on the basis of which it was selected to manage the proposed Company,” Anenih wrote in the letter to Umar.

    Anenih lamented that despite the fact that the approval given by the Minister of Justice for the contract was conditional, officials of the NPA and the Federal Ministry of Transport “decided to engage in selective compliance by amending some parts and ignoring some other parts of the Draft Agreement, particularly those provisions that tend to give absolute control of the finance and management of the Joint Venture Company to the consortium rather than the Board of Directors of the Calabar Channel Management Company Limited”.

    Other issues raised by the chairman include: That the consortium had no reference whatsoever of previous jobs done, they were alien to the Calabar Channel Project and did not even take part in the bids of 2010 and the later re-procurement process. The consortium was also not pre-qualified and did not pass through the selection like the other companies.

    “It, therefore, follows that the Presidential Approval for the appointment of the consortium led by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited to enter into a JVA with NPA, which culminated in the agreement to form Calabar Channel Management Company Limited, was obtained without following due process,” Anenih added.

     

     

     

    It further alleged that the only company among the seven companies that form the consortium, which ought to lead the consortium is Nigeria Westminster Dredging that was prequalified for the first procurement exercise and not Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited that has poor records with NPA.

     

     

     

    Besides, it stated that the spirit and letter of the JVA signed between NPA and the consortium led by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited are not only skewed in favour of the consortium but also offend international standard and the extant laws in the maritime industry in Nigeria having regard to the refusal of officers of NPA and the Ministry of Transport to effect the necessary amendments.

    The Federal Government, sources said, is therefore, investigating why two new companies were added to the first six companies that were earlier prequalified for the re-procurement especially when it was discovered that one of the companies had not been registered at the time the bid was done in 2010.

    The process, through which the contract was awarded, the source said, has become an embarrassment to the government. That explains the insistence of government to probe the level of the involvement of top government officials in the scam so that appropriate sanctions could slammed on them if found culpable.

  • Firm to pay N5b damages for invalid contract

    Firm to pay N5b damages for invalid contract

    A Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday declared as invalid a contract which Societe International Telecommunication Aeronautiques (SITA) entered into with the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    It awarded N5 billion as general damages to the plaintiff, Maevis Limited, and set aside SITA’s agreement with FAAN.

    Justice Ibrahim Buba held that SITA was wrong to have entered into a contract with FAAN, adding that the agreement is invalid.

    The judge said SITA bid for the contract but lost, yet got FAAN to award it the contract.

    According to him, the firm was aware of a pending court case on the transaction, yet it signed an invalid contract, which is null and void.

    Maevis had taken the action against SITA and SITA Telecommunications Nigeria Limited through a writ of summons, a statement of claim and other processes dated March 19, 2012.

    It sought a declaration that the defendants are liable to the plaintiff for wilfully procuring and inducing FAAN to breach its subsisting agreement with Maevis.

    The plantiff, through its lawyer, Yakubu Galadima, prayed for a declaration that the defendants’ action was impacting its ability to collect revenue due to the Federal Government, pursuant to the facilities provided by the plaintiff under the agreement.

    It also sought a declaration that any purported agreement for the provision of any Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) or similar equipment between the defendants and any other person, besides the plaintiff and FAAN in respect of any or all of the four airports is invalid, unlawful, ineffective, null and void.

    MAEVIS sought an order of injunction restraining the defendants and FAAN or any other agency of the Federal Government from negotiating, executing or implementing any agreement pertaining to the activities envisaged under the plaintiff’s subsisting agreement with FAAN, particularly CUTE in relation to the four airports.

     

  • Govt may extend N257b destination inspection contract

    There are indication that the Federal Government may extend for the second time this year, the N257 billion contracts given to the three service providers under the Destination Inspection (DI) scheme.

    The government, investigation has revealed, may take the decision based on the report that the Nigeria Customs Service does not have the personnel to man and maintain the machines.

    The seven-year contract, which was to expire on December 31, last year, was first extended on January 1, this year by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    After the initial six-month extension, the Federal Government, sources said, was yet to be convinced that Customs officials could take over the job.

    A source close to the Federal Ministry of Finance told The Nation yesterday, that the Federal Government might table the extension of the contracts at the Federal Executive (FEC) meeting on Wednesday.

    But the announcement for the renewal of the contracts, the source said, might be delayed till the end of the month or early next month.

    The source also said Customs’ supervising ministry was yet to see the preparedness of Customs officials to take over.

    The ministry sources said the Federal Government was worried because it is afraid of creating crisis at the ports and other affected areas.

    However, Customs Public Relation Officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi, said they have enough men to carry out to do the jobs.

    Many Customs officers, Adeniyi said, have been trained on the scanning.

    “Our officers are ready to do the job and they have been trained to do so. I doubt if the government will extend the contract beyond next month,” he said.

    The Save Nigerian Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition advised the Federal Government to hand over the inspection scheme to Customs in July

    Its Chairman, Mr Chukwu Osita, said it would be better and cheaper for the country if Customs takes over from the contractors.

    “I have not seen what the service providers are doing that the Customs cannot do. Customs has been training its officers and men in the past six years and it is time they were given the chance to practise what they have been taught.

    “Customs should be allowed to take over the destination inspection because we are not getting the service and all the problems associated with destination inspection scheme are still there.

    “We expect that with the service providers, the problems will be eliminated, but shippers still continue to have problems,’’ Osita said.

    He, however, added: “If the government thought that the service was not ready to take over, then some staff working with the service providers should be employed by the Customs.”

     

  • Court awards N10m against GTBank for breach of contract

    For unilaterally terminating a contract it entered with its client, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc to pay Foxglove Nigeria Limited N10million damages.

    The court held that the bank did not comply with the contract’s terms by which parties were bound.

    The bank rather cancelled the agreement without recourse to the client as agreed.

    A Lagos High Court, therefore, ordered GTbank to also pay 21 per cent interest on the N10million, beginning from June 1, 2008.

    The bank must pay the 21 per cent from then till last Friday when the judgment was delivered, the court ordered.

    Thereafter, the bank must pay interest on the sum at four per cent per annum until the payment is completed.

    Justice Grace Onyeabor, who delivered the verdict, said: “Parties are bound by the contract between them. Where there is a breach of contract, damages is awardable.”

    She held that the bank broke the contract outside what was stated in Clause 5, which is that 60 days notice must be given before termination.

    “The issue is resolved against the defendant and in favour of the claimant,” the judge said.

    According to the judge, contrary to the bank’s claim that it notified the claimant before terminating the contract, there was nothing before the court to show that any notice was given the firm.

    “The defendant has not shown that it gave the claimant notice. The burden of proof of an assertion is on the party which made it. I so hold,” said Justice Onyeabor.

    The firm entered into a distribution agreement with MTN Communications Limited sometime in 2002.

    In fulfillment of the requirement of a bank guarantee, it took out one with GTBank at N10million on February 26, 2007, to guarantee full and prompt payment of all indebtedness to MTN.

    Clause Five of the contract stated that 60 days written notice must be given of intention to terminate the bank guarantee.

    But to its shock, the claimant said MTN, via a letter dated June 16, 2008, informed it that the bank had withdrawn the guarantee.

    MTN gave the claimant 14 days to replace the guarantee, failing which the distribution agreement would be terminated.

    After several enquiries, the claimant said GTBank never responded. Consequently, the agreement with MTN was terminated due to its inability to get another bank guarantee.

    GTBank eventually replied the claimant’s letter, saying the claimant breached several terms of the contract.

    The defendant “failed to state specifically what breach was committed by the claimant,” said the claimant.

    Foxglove said the guarantee’s arbitrary termination had a ripple effect on its business. It said it suffered irreparable loss of over N38million, as well as another N67million.

    The claimant sought a declaration that the termination of the bank guarantee by the GTBank without informing it as stated in the offer letter and conditions of the bank guarantee is unlawful and void.

    It sought for N20million as special damages suffered, N50million as general damages, and N500,000 as cost of the action.

    GTBank had denied the claims and urged the court to dismiss them.

    It said the claimant failed to disclose the stock of recharge cards received from MTN in line with the contract; failed to provide agreed security for the bank guarantee, and failed to meet the agreed turn-over and ‘Collateral Covenants’ for the utilisation of the guarantee.

    The bank added: “By the term of the Contract of Guarantee, the obligation of the defendant to MTN as regards Notice of Termination of the Bank Guarantee is to the effect that liability under the said Contract of Bank Guarantee extinguishes only after 60 days of Notice of Termination of same and owes no obligation whatsoever to the claimant.”

    But the court agreed with the claimant, holding the contract was illegally terminated by GTBank.

     

  • Ex-NIMASA boss didn’t benefit from contracts, says witness

    Ex-NIMASA boss didn’t benefit from contracts, says witness

    Aprincipal prosecution witness in the trial of former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Raymond Omatseye, has said the accused did not financially benefit from contracts awarded during his days is office.

    The witness, Ibrahim Ahmed, an investigating police officer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told a Federal High Court in Lagos that investigation did not reveal that Omatseye financially benefited from the contracts.

    Ahmed, who was cross examined last Friday by defence lawyer,Olusina Sofola (SAN), said the contracts were approved by the agency’s board.

    He referred to a memo indicating that the chairman of NIMASA’s board, Senator Baba Tella directed that quotations for the contracts be submitted for approval.

    When asked whether his investigation could not establish that there was a submission of quotations for the contracts, Ahmed said on page 17b of the memo (tendered before the court), the chairman NIMASA board told the ex DG to bring up quotations to board for final approval.

    Ahmed, who told the court in an earlier testimony that contracts were split by NIMASA to avoid exceeding the DG’s approval threshold, said he did not investigate the companies that benefited from the contracts and others that bidded.

    On claim that there was manipulation in the contract award process, Ahmed said he could not establish that because he could not reach the companies.

    Asked if, in the course of his investigation, he discovered that

    the companies met to agree on the bid they were to submit,

    Ahmed answered in the negative.

    He said the companies’ quotations were not shown to him and that there was no other memo that stated the quotations were submitted.

    On whether his investigation was able to establish that

    the accused person had an agreement with the companies in submitting their quotation, Ahmed answered in the negative. Sofola asked him if he thought the accused person benefitted financially the bid for the Blackbery phones supply contract, the witness said investigation did not establish so.

    Omatseye is being tried on a charge of 27 counts, containing allegations of contract splitting, bid rigging and allegedly awarding contracts exceeding the threshold allowed a D.G. by the Public Procurement Act, while he was in office.

    Ahmed had on Wednesday told the court that an award letter from NIMASA to a firm, Kolal Riska International Nigeria Limited, for the supply of office accessories at a contract sum of N4,930,000, was clearly above the stipulated threshold of less than N2.5million allowed a DG under the Act.

    The award letter, Ahmed stated , was signed on behalf of Omatseye by one M. K. Shehu who was the Director of Procurement at the time.

    Led in evidence by prosecution lawyer, Godwin Obla, Ahmed identified signatures on some internal memos and other contract documents presented before the court and which were tagged exhibits 17 and 18, as belonging to Omatseye.

    Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia has fixed May 30 for continuation of trial.

     

  • El-Rufai hits back at Atiku on Pentascope contract

    El-Rufai hits back at Atiku on Pentascope contract

    •Insists ex-VP approved failed  management  contract

    •Ex-FCT minister’s allegation dismissed

     

    A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai yesterday insisted that ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar approved the management contract with Pentascope for the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited ( NITEL).

    He said Pentascope was not foisted on NITEL as being alleged in some quarters.

    Since Pentascope management of NITEL went awry, there had been shifting of blames by some government officials in the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Some had blamed el-Rufai for the failure of NITEL. Others criticised the former Vice-President who was then the Chairman of the National Privatization Council (NCP).

    But el-Rufai’s book, “Accidental Public Servant,” stirred the hornet’s nest on NITEL which forced Atiku to voice out.

    However, in his reaction to the controversy through a statement by his Media Advisor, Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, the former FCT Minister said the leadership of BPE also neglected its responsibilities in supervising Pentascope management contract.

    The statement said: “On Pentascope, we see the same pattern of muddying the waters with falsehood. As chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Atiku gave his approval in writing on February 21, 2003 for the management contract with Pentascope to be signed. The memo on which Atiku minuted his approval, is dated 20th February 2003, and was initiated by the director of BPE that was covering the DG’s duties at the time.

    “By the virtue of the high office he then held, Atiku knows that Pentascope was not foisted on NITEL but emerged from a properly advertised and competitive selection process.

    “After the failure of the first attempt to sell NITEL, it had been decided that there was need for a management contractor to keep the momentum of preparing the company to operate like a private entity and to preserve its assets. Pentascope resumed in NITEL on April 28 2003, shortly before El Rufai left the BPE to become a minister.

    “The Pentascope contract terms included obligations by the BPE to monitor the contract, and for the NITEL Board to set up an Executive Committee to supervise day to day operations in NITEL.

    “Between the new BPE leadership that neglected its responsibilities, the NCP which Atiku chaired and which failed to supervise the BPE and the bureaucrats and politicians around the Ministry of Communications, the management contract was frustrated and terminated in 2005.

    “When a former vice-president asserts that NITEL was making N100 billion in profit annually, the mind must boggle that someone so unconstrained by fidelity to facts had once been saddled with significant responsibilities. NITEL never made such profits.

    “NITEL had never paid a single dividend to the FGN until the BPE forced it to pay N3billion in 2001! While the politicians and bureaucrats were fighting to reclaim ministerial control of NITEL (and the inflated equipment contracts that came with it), the company was fast losing market share to the new kids on the block, the GSM companies that understood how to create and sustain value.

    “It is to be hoped that Atiku will respond to the other matters concerning him in the book, but this time he must ensure that facts trump the braggadocio.”

    But the former Vice President has again dismissed those allegation.

    He said they are not new. In a statement by his Media Office, Atiku said: “The interesting thing is that those spreading these allegations couldn’t come forward with any iota of proof against me. I was also accused of selling African Petroleum to myself, using a front. However, when the facts eventually emerged in respect of this particular allegation, my traducers were disarmed and were forced to retreat. Indeed, I was the most investigated public office holder under the former administration and, if this allegation was valid, it could have been conveniently used to bring me down and tarnish my name. Thank God I survived this smear campaign, just like others before it.

    “The Senate conducted a public hearing on privatisation under my leadership as the chairman of the National Council on Privatisation. That was the best opportunity for those accusing me of selling public assets to myself to come forward to prove the allegation. Surprisingly, they never did because they relied mainly on hearsay. A cabinet member in Obasanjo’s government, who was promoting this idle rumour, was eventually left looking small because he didn’t have the facts to substantiate his allegations against me.

    “On Pentascope, people should direct the questions to El-Rufai himself. The Pentascope scandal was one of the issues investigated by the National Assembly and it accused El-Rufai of ignoring wise counsel by imposing the company on NITEL.”