The decision of the Ministry of Defence to award a contract deal of $1.4m for a United Nations project has courted controversy.
It was alleged that the Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Munir Dan-Ali, and three senior officials of the ministry were involved in a messy scandal.
The Cable’s report captioned, ‘General detained as another scandal rocks Buhari’s government,’ had stated that Dan-Ali, the immediate past permanent secretary of the ministry, Danjuma Nanfo; and the coordinator of peacekeeping, Brig. Gen LYM Hassan, were being questioned in connection with disbursement of $1.4m meant for a UN project.
It had also reported that Hassan was in detention and facing court-martial.
At the court martial, which began on October 30, 2017, Dan-Ali, Nanfo, and Hassan have disclosed how money was shared from a $1.4 million contract without the job being executed.
The contract was for the relocation and refurbishment of Level 2 Ministry Hospital under the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) following a directive from the UN.
A UN Level 2 hospital is a second line or “brigade/sector” level surgical facility for limited specialist expertise and limited surgical capabilities, including life, limb and organ-saving surgeries.
Under the UN system, 18 Level 2 hospitals are being operated by troop-/police-contributing countries.
Countries get paid by the UN for the use of their facilities.
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Nigeria’s Level 2 hospital was established to support the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) in 2008.
The hospital was later relocated to its temporary site in Timbuktu in 2013 to support MINUSMA.
For failing to meet the August 2017 UN deadline for a new location, Nigeria has been asked by the global body to withdraw its remaining contingent to the United Nations African Mission in Darfur (UNIMID) because of poor holdings of the contingent-owned equipment (COE).
The report said the problem started when the UN asked Nigeria to move its level 2 hospital from the temporary camp at the Timbuktu Airport, to the more secure new ‘UN Super Camp’ in Timbuktu.
With the completion of the permanent camp of MINUSMA in Timbuktu, it was gathered that the UN requested all its establishments to relocate to the new ‘Super Camp.’
In February 2017, the Ministry of Defence awarded a contract for the refurbishing and relocation of the hospital to a contractor who had zero experience in installation of a level 2 hospital.
According to documents seen by TheCable, the controversial contract was awarded after the defence ministry had received a presidential approval in the name of another contractor.
The initial approval was said to have followed a memo from the minister of defence on July 21, 2016, to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting fund for the relocation of the Nigerian Medical Level 2 Hospital “deployed in African Union MINUSMA in Mali.”
The approval was contained in a memo, dated November 9, 2016, from the President’s chief of staff to the minister of defence.
Nothing was reportedly heard of the President’s approval until three months later when an award letter, dated February 2, 2017, emanated from the procurement department of the MOD to a new firm which was not involved in the initial contract process.
The new contract had a completion period of two months.
It was gathered that the contract till date had not been executed, as only part of the hospital under MINUSMA was dismantled and left at the current location.
The initial cost of the contract for the refurbishing and relocation of the hospital as approved by Buhari was said to be $1,464,750.
The contract for execution of the same was awarded by the MOD procurement department for $1 million, short by $464,750.
But the favoured contractor reportedly ran back to tell the ministry officials that the contract could not be executed unless there was a variation sum to the tune of over $500,000.
However, the refurbishment and relocation contract was awarded by the ministry with the specification that “the contract price is fixed and no request for variation will be entertained.’’
According to a source in the ministry, there was a second approval, which is suspect because “there is no way the president will give approval to the same contract twice.”
The UN had reportedly asked Rwanda to get ready to deploy another Level 2 hospital at the Super Camp.
The UN, through the United Nations Security Council, had at its meeting with troop/police contributing countries on January 28, 2017, in New York, expressed an urgent need to relocate the hospital to the Super Camp.
All the establishments had a deadline of second week of August 2017 to complete the relocation.
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But with the platforms ready by the first week of August, Nigeria’s hospital was nowhere near the Super Camp.
It was gathered that rather than relocate the hospital, the actors allegedly chose to share the money and excluded the contractor.
It was gathered that Dan-Ali later sent servicing officers to execute the contract.
The relocation was to be supervised by Hassan and one B.A. Isandu, also a brigadier-general.
Ministry officials were said to have called for a probe, adding that those indicted should be prosecuted.
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