THE ICIR investigations revealed how millions of naira released for the National Biosafety Management Agency’s capital projects were mismanaged via inflated project prices. Niyi OYEDEJI reports. Photographs and Video by Uthman SAMAD

THE National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) headed Dr. Rufus Egbegba has spent over N365 million on vehicles, computers, and equipment, all between 2016 and 2019, among other procurements. The ICIR’s investigation, however, revealed that the prices quoted for these items are inflated beyond the market price.

NBMA was established by the National Biosafety Management Act of 2015 and on April 15, 2015, Dr. Egbegba was appointed as the pioneer Director-General/Chief Executive Officer but the agency commenced full operation in 2016.

The agency is mandated to regulate modern biotechnology activities and the release into the environment, handling, and use of genetically modified organisms which are products of modern biotechnology to prevent adverse impact on the environment and human health.

In the last four years, the agency has executed not fewer down 30 capital projects, but all at inflated prices.

170 million spent on five vehicles

For instance, The ICIR’s check shows that the agency has spent over N170 million on only five operational vehicles between 2016 and 2019.

The breakdown of the spending shows that N40 million, exactly 40 percent of the money released to NBMA for capital projects in 2016 was spent on the procurement of operational vehicles. In the following year, another sum ofN48,890,100 was also awarded and paid for the same project.

However, in 2018, NBMA first awarded a sum of N10,815,787 for operational vehicles and another N41,479,500 for the same project.

In 2019, the agency awarded and paid a sum of 29,059,870 also for operational vehicles, which brought the total amount of money expended on vehicles between the years 2016 and 2019 to N170,245,207.



When Dr. Rufus Egbegba, DG of the agency was contacted by The ICIR for clarifications on the money spent on vehicles, he acknowledged the purchase of the five vehicles at N170.2 million and listed the vehicles as 32-seaters bus (One), 18-seaters bus (One), Saloon cars (Two), and SUV car (One).

The ICIR further asked him if he thinks those vehicles were not procured at an inflated price, and he responded: “That’s all the vehicles we have bought and if from your investigation you’ve realized we’ve spent 170,245 207 on the five vehicles, then that’s the amount we’ve spent,” Egbegba responded.

When The ICIR reached out to one of the two contractors that got the contract for the procurement of operational vehicles for the agency ― Circular Automobile Limited, who was awarded the sum of 40 million and 48.9 million in 2016 and 2017 respectively, their director who decided not to disclose his name to this reporter noted that it was true that his company got the contract to supply two vehicles to the agency between the year 2016 and 2017.

He stated further that he delivered two brand new vehicles ― one 18-seater Hiace bus and one Prado car to the agency.

When asked if he received in total a sum of N88.9 million for the project from the agency, he stated instead that only ten percent for tax and VAT were deducted from the money and that the agency paid him fully for the contract. This implies that a sum of N8.9m was deducted for VAT while N80m was remitted to the contractor.

The second contractor who was also commissioned to supply operational vehicles could not be reached, but from the information gotten from the Circular Automobile Limited that a sum of N88.9 million was spent on two vehicles, it is conceivable the agency spent the remaining N81.4 million on the three remaining vehicles ―one 32-seaters bus and two saloon cars.

The current market price of the vehicles

In a bid to know the current market price of the vehicles procured by the NBMA, The ICIR reached out to RT Briscoe, one of the licensed Toyota car dealers in Nigeria, who disclosed that there has been inflation in the price of vehicles in recent years.

He also stated that there are different variances for each of the vehicles the agency purchased. He said for the 18-seater Hiace bus, the price ranges from N22 million naira to N26 million naira, depending on the variance. He said further that the 32-seaters coaster bus is currently being sold for N48 million while the current market price of the SUV Prado car ranges from N32 to N50 million, depending on the variance. He concluded that although there are different types of saloon cars, the price varies, depending on the brand, noting that the average price for a typical saloon car ranges from N15 million to N30 million.

Going by the prices quoted by the RT Briscoe, it is evident that even if the cars were bought at the current market price, there are still discrepancies in the money the agency claimed to have spent on these vehicles.

For instance, the highest amount an 18-seater Hiace bus could be purchased now is N26 million while the price of SUV Prado car goes for N50 million, which means both vehicles could be purchased for the total amount of N76million, this is against the sum of N80 million the agency claimed to have paid to the contractor for this project. In essence, it means the agency cannot account for a minimum of N4 million naira in the course of procuring these two vehicles.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-national-biosafety-management-agency-enmeshed-in-contract-inflation/

By the time this regime of falsehood, aggrandisement and propaganda is done, nothing will be left behind.