*There was not a single Minister who supported the memo due to dubious issues, Investigation reveals
After what turned out to be a bogus memo, proposing an unknown questionable company for a multi-billion Naira Railway security contract, the Federal Executive Council asked the Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi to go back and do his homework properly and re-present the memo. For seven months now, he has not, Quest Times investigation revealed.
Now, facts are beginning to emerge on how the Minister has refused to implement that FEC resolution and failed to re-present the memo which requested funding for the procurement of equipment to secure the Abuja-Kaduna railway to the Federal Executive Council after it was initially turned down.
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According to a member of the FEC, since September 24, 2021, Amaechi is yet to produce the rejected memo to the FEC as requested by the Council at a meeting presided over by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
That was seven months ago and at a rate of one FEC meeting per week, the Minister had 28 weeks of FEC meetings to re-present up to last week–before the train attack–but simply abandoned the memo, only to be crying wolf now, a top FG source explained.
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Recall that during an inspection of the Abuja-Kaduna train attacked by terrorists on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, Amaechi disclosed that he presented a memo to the FEC to procure security equipment to protect the rail from attacks, but it was turned down.
He said nothing to the media then about the shady nature of the company he was going to give the contract to, neither did he inform the journalists with him at that Kaduna station that he has simply ignored the conclusion of FEC that the memo be redone properly and quickly re-presented for approval.
Media reports in Punch, The Cable, Premium Times and Sahara Reporters yesterday (Friday morning to be specific) have already detailed the problems with Amaechi’s questionable memo, before a watery piece of news article was being shopped around by evening, trying to fraudulently change the narrative of what happened.
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A source confirmed to Quest Times that “FEC had doubts about the capability of a company, which was formed less than two years prior and which had no track record of handling a contract of N3.7 billion or a contract on surveillance systems. The company was also to be paid upfront.
“There were also serious concerns about a conflict of interest when it was hinted that the owner of the bogus company, Mogjan Nigeria Limited, was a close confidant of the Minister with no experience whatsoever in security or technology-related assignments.”
The source revealed that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari in particular, questioned the memo, with not one single member of the council speaking in favour of it.
Everyone that spoke roundly questioned the memo severely. Indeed Amaechi was unhappy that the memo did not have any support whatsoever.
It was after the round of condemnations by FEC members that Vice President Osinbajo, who presided, then directed the Transport Minister to go back and fix the issues raised and bring back the memo to the Council for reconsideration and approval.
A FEC member told Quest Times that in the last seven years, Amaechi has lost the trust of many of his colleagues in the Council and he has become a laughing stock for producing memos requesting contracts with “dodgy owners and companies.”
This has gone on to irk the minister himself and he has openly tried to fight back angrily during FEC meetings. But the source said each time, Amaechi could not prevail because the questions raised are so critical and revealed clear potential for bare-faced corruption.
