TheCable

Intels has finally lost its three-year bid to retain monopoly of the service boat monitoring contract in the nation’s four pilotage districts.

The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has issued the certificate of no-objection to the Nigerian Ports Authority  (NPA) to engage the pre-qualified contractors for the job, TheCable understands.

The pre-qualified companies will now take over monitoring contract managed for years by Intels.

The new companies approved by the BPP are ICA Logistics Ltd (for Lagos pilotage district), Pacific Silverline Ltd (Warri), Nextee Oil and Gas Trading Company (Bonny/Port Harcourt) and Isasha Investments Ltd (Calabar).

Intels participated in the bidding and was disqualified by the NPA for not meeting the requirements but it went to court to stop conclusion of the process.

This BPP no-objection also effectively ends last-minute efforts by Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, the immediate past minister of transportation, to force NPA to truncate the contracting process which started in 2019.

TheCable had reported how the minister pressured the BPP, ministry of justice and the presidency to terminate the procurement process and give the contract to July Seventh Ventures Ltd, a company linked to a former governor of Ogun state who is an associate of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The new service boat monitoring contracting process was kicked off by the NPA following the expiration of the contract it had with Intels.

It is estimated that Nigeria lost over $500 million in the last three years because of the delay in appointing substantive monitoring agents.

The Buhari administration had directed the ministry of transportation to conclude the procurement process but political intrigues stalled it.

In January 2021, Rotimi Amaechi, then minister of transportation, got presidential approval for the restoration of all contracts between NPA and Intels and withdrawal of all matters in court in order to settle the disputes administratively.

Buhari later reversed himself after advice from the attorney-general of the federation and the BPP.

They told the president that Intels’ contract was not cancelled as alleged but had actually expired and its renewal was not automatic.

Buhari then directed that the procurement process should be concluded.

Sambo, Amaechi’s successor, first tried to truncate the process by seeking to unilaterally restore the contract to Intels, before switching his attention to July Seventh Ventures Ltd — also without trying to go through due process.

The ministry of maritime and blue economy will soon present the approvals to the federal executive council for ratification, TheCable understands.