A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called on the National Assembly to investigate the circumstances surrounding the award of a $195million security contract to secure Nigeria’s waterways to a foreign firm.
The coalition claimed that the contract, which was awarded to an Israeli firm, HSLI Security Systems was done illegally and in a shoddy manner.
National Coordinator, Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative, Comr. Solomon Adodo, at a news conference said ceding of the nation’s waterways to the exclusive control of a foreign firm is an avenue to divert Nigeria’s oil for selfish interest and personal gains.
Besides, he argued, ceding such a critical national asset to a foreign firm will undermine the constitutional role of the Nigerian Armed Forces, as prescribed by law and will expose the country to security risks and ridicule among the comity of nations.
The Deputy Director, Corporate Communications, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Isichei Osambgi, said the allegation was baseless, claiming that the contract followed due process.
“There is nothing like illegally awarded. This government is a very serious one that always follows due process. If anyone claimed that the contract was awarded illegally, let them prove it with documents,” he said.
Adodo recalled that the move to award the contract to the said firm in 2017, was rejected by the National Assembly and terminated by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, for being fraudulent.
He however expressed concern that after such public outcry and reversal, the contract was awarded and captured in the nation’s 2018 and 2019 budgets.