Details of payment from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) show that at least 91 projects worth N2 billion were given to three distinct businesses owned by Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed in violation of Nigeria’s public procurement laws.
Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, also known as Binani, is the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Adamawa, North-East Nigeria, for Saturday’s governorship election scheduled for March 18, 2023.
Binani currently represents Adamawa Central senatorial district in the National Assembly. She had served as a member representing Yola North/Yola South/Girei federal constituency between 2011 and 2015 in the House of Representatives.
Binani, currently the Senate Committee Chairman on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established Binani Nigeria Limited, with company registration number RC310024, in March 1997. Twelve years later, she established another company, Binani Printing Press Limited, in May 2009, with RC number 816807. She later set up Binani Publishing Ltd with the RC number 1261575 in May 2015.
91 projects awarded to three companies in two years
Details of payment from the Federal Government’s Open Treasury Portal (OTP) and made easily accessible by govspend.ng reveals that these 91 projects were awarded by five Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), namely, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the National Productivity Centre, the National Commission for Refugees, the Project Development Institute and the National Population Commission between 2021 and 2022.
One of the projects awarded to the company believed to be a publishing company was the renovation of nine blocks of two classrooms worth N167 million in Government Girls Secondary School, Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area. The project was awarded through the Universal Basic Education (UBEC), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Education.
Another project awarded by the UBEC is a N63 million project to provide beds, chairs, desks and books to a printing company known as Binani Printing Press Limited.
Between 2021 and 2022, UBEC awarded 74 different projects worth N1.7 billion to Binani’s three companies. Twelve projects worth N282 million were awarded by the National Productivity Centre. Three projects worth N105 million were awarded by the National Commission for Refugees while one project each (worth N78 million and N8 million) was awarded by the Project Development Institute and the National Population Commission respectively.
Findings from the details of payment for these projects reveal that most them are sited in her senatorial district.
Wife to former UBEC boss
Binani is married to a former Executive Secretary of UBEC, Professor Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed. Between 2007 and 2012, Modibbo was in charge of UBEC. Allegations of procurement fraud marred his tenure at UBEC, one of which involved giving contracts to businesses run by his wife, Binani.
For instance, an investigation by Sahara Reporters in 2010 detailed how Modibbo, who was the UBEC executive secretary at the time, gave contracts totalling billions to various businesses controlled by Binani, whom he had recently married. Binani still enjoys the privilege 10 years after her husband had left the agency.
As recently as 2022, Binani was accused of misusing funds intended for the installation of a multi-million solar street light panel that had been granted through the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, but she denied the allegation.
Violation of several laws
These actions clearly violate the provisions of Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
According to Section 5 of the code, “a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities,” just as he or she shall not “engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession, or trade” as stated in Section 6 of the Act.
Dataphyte also discovered that two of the three companies, Binani Nigeria Limited and Binani Publishing Limited, had failed to file their yearly returns to the Federal Government in a blatant violation of the law, which led to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) designating them as “inactive”.
Companies registered in Nigeria are required by law to file annual returns, which is a vital requirement. It enables the government to assess how firms competing for government contracts conduct their business.
According to Nigerian laws, all corporations must submit their annual returns to the CAC at least once a year. Companies that fail to comply are classified as “inactive” by virtue of sections 417 – 424 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020.
Also in violation of Section 14 of the Public Procurement Act of 2007, contracts were given to Binani Nigeria Limited and Binani Publishing Limited. According to Section 16(8)(d), a business is not eligible to participate in procurement processes or hold government contracts if it “is in arrears regarding payment of due taxes, charges, pensions or social insurance contributions, unless such bidders have obtained a lawful permit with respect to allowance, deference of such outstanding payments or payment thereof in installments.”
Binani’s publishing company got contract awards for the renovation of classroom blocks and for the provision of beds, chairs and books – a clear violation of the procurement act. One would have expected the publishing company to handle publishing-related issues, but not Binani Publishing Limited.
No response from the lawmaker
Dataphyte reached out to Senator Binani. However, calls placed on her phone number did not go through and messages sent to her number did not get any response. In addition, a WhatsApp message was delivered to her, but she gave no response.
Dataphyte could not independently verify the status of these projects.
Also, when presented with the Dataphyte findings, UBEC spokesperson, Blossom Ossom, said that the executive secretary would be best suited to respond to questions on the budget, costs, and implementation. Efforts made to get the executive secretary to comment were not successful.
Lawmakers should be recalled for violating procurement laws
Program Executive and Program Lead, UDEME, a social accountability project that tracks the implementation of various government projects, Ijeoma Okereke, said lawmakers caught in this kind of sharp practices should be recalled by their constituents for violating the laws they made by themselves.
“This is in violation of both the Public Procurement Act that allows for open and competitive bidding and Code of Conduct Bureau Act. Section 5 of the code states that ‘a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities,’ and he or she shall not ‘engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade’ as provided by Section 6 of the Act.”
Public officials in Nigeria have made it a custom to give contracts to themselves, according to Head of Tracka at the BudgIT Foundation, Levbaoje Uadamen,
Uadamen said the primary duty of lawmakers was to make laws, but the creation of constituency projects by President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration added nomination of projects to their responsibilities. He said that for constituency projects, federal lawmakers were only saddled with the responsibility of nominating projects but not the contractors as it was being done today.
“Today, we observe that lawmakers propose projects and include them in the budgets of agencies over which they have influence. They accomplish this by serving as the chairmen, vice chairmen, or members of committees that have oversight functions for these agencies, even when they lack the necessary capacity to carry out the projects,” Uadamen said.
A lawyer, Obia Sunday, noted that lawmakers influencing projects to their companies had put themselves in conflict with their duties and responsibilities. He noted that such lawmakers risked going to jail.
Section 58 of the Public Procurement Act provides that if a public official directly or indirectly tries to sway the procurement process in any way to gain an unfair advantage, the official risks a term of at least five years imprisonment without a fine, including a summary dismissal from government employment. The case is also expected to be heard at the federal high court.