Transport Minister, Amaechi dragged to court in Abuja over rail project contract

The Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, and the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mamman Ahmadu, have been dragged before a Federal High Court in Abuja, over alleged violation of the Public Procurement Act in the award of a railway project contract.

The project is the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Port Harcourt – Maiduguri, Eastern Narrow Gauge Railway line.

The plaintiff, Insight Dynamic Resources Limited, is praying the court for an order to compel the federal government to initiate the judicial process against the minister and the BPP DG.

According to the applicant, Amaechi’s and Ahmadu’s action contravened “the provisions of the public procurement Act as stipulated by the provision of Section 58 (5) (a) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.”

The plaintiff also prayed the court to set aside the contractual agreement between the federal government and the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) for the rail project.

The firm also wants the court to determine whether Amaechi, through the BPP’s chief had the right to issue LETTER OF NO OBJECTION in favour of CCECC NIGERIA LIMITED for the said contract. The plaintiff claimed that the purported action by the minister denied other interested and capable companies the fairground to compete for the said contract.

It added that the minister’s action contravened the spirit and provision of Section 16 and 40 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007. (Daily Trust)