Controversy trails AGIS contract awards
Aggrieved staff of the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) are alleging foul play over the award of contracts running into millions of Naira for repairs and maintenance of office equipment, saying the contracts were merely used as a conduit to siphon money.
But the management of AGIS denied the allegations insisting that the contracts were awarded through its overhead cost to overhaul and transform the business processes of the Agency in line with global best practices.
While there are allegations that the contracts fraudulently awarded to proxy companies between May and July 2015 amounting to about N25 million were fully paid for by AGIS without being executed its management insist that the jobs were properly executed and that outstanding liabilities accrued from other projects executed over the years could not be settled because the payments were above its threshold.
Records show that contracts for repairs, supplies and maintenance of office equipment were awarded to different companies between May and September 2015 but some aggrieved staff of AGIS alleged that even though monies were paid into the beneficiaries accounts nothing was done to justify the payments.
Controversial contracts
Documents made available to Daily Trust show that some of the companies that were awarded the contracts in contention are: M/S Gada Grand Design Limited which was awarded two separate contracts between May and June this year. The company was on May 4, and June 22, 2015 conveyed with letters of contract awards signed by Mrs. Jamilah Tangaza, Director of AGIS.
In the first award, the company was granted permission for the maintenance of office equipment at the total sum of N2, 500,000.00 with a completion period of two weeks while the second allocation permitted the company to proceed with repairs of office equipment at the cost of N2, 475, 480.00.
Another company that benefited from the contract awards was M/S Boummah Global Investment Nig. Ltd which in a letter dated June, 15, 2015 was granted permission for the maintenance of office building at the cost of N2, 500,000.00, another named M/S Phoenix Info Tech. Ltd was also granted permission to carry out the repairs and maintenance of office furniture in a letter dated July 1, 2015.
The other contract awards being queried by the aggrieved staff were given as follows: M/S OCTICO SYSTEMS was awarded a contract for the procurement of 1000 units of Rebranded Access Cards on May 5, 2015 at the cost of N71, 500.00; M/S Maiga Technologies Ltd was granted permission for the servicing of AGIS Network Patch Panels on May 13, 2015 at the cost of N2,473, 800.00; M/S Formats Projects Services Ltd was awarded contract for the replacement of three HP Scanners Parted for DMS Unit on May 18,2015 at the cost of N270,000.00; M/S 9Tnine Co. Ltd was awarded contract through a letter dated May 11, 2015 for routine annual servicing of AGIS servers at the sum of N2, 425,000.00; M/S Breshol Limited, Lagos which was given a contract for Urgent Replacement of Server Inverter Batteries at the cost of N2,400,000.00.
Similarly M/S Amir Heritage Limited was given award through a letter dated June 2, 2012 for the procurement of Solar Power Components for AGIS Power Backup at the cost of N2, 393,000.00 while M/S Smartec Computers Ltd was awarded contract for the supply of sets of HP Cartridges/ Toners at the total sum of N1, 960,350.00.
Investigations by Daily Trust, however, revealed while seven of the companies awarded the contracts were registered with addresses different from the ones used in their communication with AGIS, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) could not find information concerning the registration of two of them namely: Phoenix Info Tech Ltd and Breshol Limited.
A visit to some of the addresses also revealed that they were either residential houses occupied by different firms. For instance, M/S Gada Grand Design Ltd could not be traced at Plot 527, Shop G 11, Omega Center, Wuse -2 as a different firm called De-lawtech was found operating there. Isaac Abdul, an Accountant with De-lawtech said he was not aware of a company called M/S Gada.
Similarly, at No 16, Islamic Crescent, Madalla, Niger State which the contract letter from AGIS used as address for MS Boummah Global Investment Nig. Ltd, it was discovered that the place is a residential house where an occupant who spoke to Daily Trust denied knowledge of the company or the existence of any of its staff there.
The CAC, however, confirmed the registration of 9T Nine Co. Ltd, Maiga Technologies Limited, Gada Grand Design Ltd, Boummah Global Invest. Nig Ltd and Formats Projects Services Limited whose addresses were different from the ones contained in AGIS communication with them.
AGIS: Allegations untrue
The management of AGIS has denied the allegations of contract awards to proxy companies. Director/CEO, AGIS, Mrs. Jamilah Tangaza told Daily Trust in an interview that she was not aware of any dealings such proxy companies.
Mrs. Tangaza denied that the contracts were not executed saying that the contract for the procurement of 1000 units of Rebranded Access Cards was awarded following the withdrawal of 7000 cards that were unaccounted for. “When I came in 2013, about 7000 access cards were unaccounted for and people who had no business coming to AGIS; including touts were using the cards to come in. We then withdrew every single card and rebranded them to change their outlook,” she said.
On the addresses of the companies, Mrs. Tangaza said the contracts were awarded to registered vendors that had been doing business with AGIS over the years saying, however, that the agency had not done due diligence to authenticate their addresses.
She directed the officer in charge of procurement to write to all vendors to provide AGIS with verifiable address updated with the CAC failure which “we will never do business with them again.”