The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Abdulaziz Ahmed Sule, has purportedly acquired a 2023 Lexus LX 600 model for the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, as per SaharaReporters’ findings.
The SUV was obtained for 298,444,187.50k.
Insiders informed SaharaReporters that Sule purchased the vehicle using the company’s internally generated revenue to influence the minister and secure his position against potential removal by President Bola Tinubu.
Exclusive documents obtained by SaharaReporters reveal that the vehicle with Chassis No. JTJPBACX6P4026917 was acquired from Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited through a contract agreement dated January 17, 2024, labeled “Procurement Of Vehicles For Management Staff (Lot 1&2)”.
A payment document labeled “Payment Advice” indicates that N261,103,961.25k was transferred to Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited’s account held with Fidelity Bank from TCN’s account via the Central Bank of Nigeria on February 20, 2024, at precisely 09:05 am with Ref No: 997617729.
The Batch Number is 15161 and the detailed description states, “Payment for the supply and delivery of 1No Lexus LX 600 2023 Model for management staff lot 1 and 2.”
A letter from Kaura Motors to the Managing Director of TCN dated January 22, 2024, with reference number KMNL/TCN/22012024/AI is titled: “Re: Procurement Of Vehicles For Management Staff (Lot 1&2). Request for payment.”
The letter, signed by one Suleiman Umar for the Managing Director of Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, states, “We refer to your contract agreement dated 17th January 2024 for the Procurement of Vehicles for Management Staff (Lot 1&2) with a total contract value of N298,444,187.50k only.
“Find below our account details for payment as we have successfully supplied.”
Meanwhile, insiders told SaharaReporters that the vehicle was procured by the TCN Managing Director and CEO, Sule, for Mr Adelabu as a gratuity to ensure his tenure’s security.
“The MD/CEO of TCN Engr. Abdulaziz Ahmed Sule bought the vehicle from the internally generated revenue of TCN to gratify the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to ensure that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not remove him from office.
“That was why when new Executive Directors were appointed for TCN by the president, the MD/CEO of TCN was not touched. This is pure corruption,” a source said.
When SaharaReporters contacted the communication manager of TCN, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, she requested some time to return to her office after hearing our inquiry. However, she did not respond to subsequent calls from our reporter. Instead, a media consultant who identified himself as Oyofo Sule called on behalf of the company.
He acknowledged that the TCN managing director bought the vehicle for the minister but refuted claims that it was a bribe.
“Yes, he bought the vehicle for the minister. It is a routine practice, and all the agencies and parastatals do it. There is nothing like bribery in the procurement. Other agencies buy vehicles for ministers and members of the National Assembly committee chairmen.”
In January, SaharaReporters reported on a document obtained from sources in the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) indicating that TCN MD/CEO, Sule, violated the Public Procurement Act, 2007 in N5,677,692,943.26 worth of contract awards.
Additionally, in November 2023, it was alleged that Abdulaziz had been involved in violating the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 in the award of contracts amounting to billions of Naira, including contract splitting.
Sources informed SaharaReporters that most of the contracts awarded by the MD under emergency procurement were not genuine emergencies and were mostly awarded to his associates who then transferred the funds to him.
Although the company denied any wrongdoing when contacted, a document in which the BPP reviewed and responded to TCN’s request letter for “No Objection” for 285 contracts it awarded under emergency process indicated that the Bureau refused to grant the request and clearly stated that the company violated the Procurement Act in 33 of the contracts.
The Bureau noted that the 33 contracts awarded by TCN under the emergency process were not qualified to be emergencies, according to the provisions of Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.
The document, signed by Babatunde Kuye on behalf of the Director of the Bureau, stated, “The Bureau observed that out of the 285 projects executed through the Emergency Procurement Method, 252 projects met the requirements for the adoption of the special method, while 33 projects should have been procured through other methods of procurements as indicated in the Table above.”
It further stated, “The Bureau’s consideration for the TCN’s request for approval for the Emergency procurement is mostly based on the reason that it was resolved at the strategic meeting held between the management of the Bureau and the TCN on 24th of May, 2022 that the TCN should avail the Bureau with the details of the projects that require accelerated procurement process (Emergency) in order to meet the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) requirements especially where there is the need to adopt the special methods in some of its procurement that require interactions with the infrastructure of other stakeholders in the sector.
“Furthermore, the TCN at the meeting emphasized significant of the signing of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between it and the Distribution Companies (Discos) across the country on zero tolerance for outages amongst other things, which will negatively affect the reputation and revenue of TCN if these projects are not procured within reasonable time.
“The Bureau sees the absence of some of these critical works and supplies in TCN substations, Transmission Lines and other assets as a sign of inadequate provision of key components in the acquisition of its major infrastructure which could expose Government’s assets to danger/destruction
“In this light, BPP is obliged to consider the request and also ratify the 33 projects which ought not to have been procured through emergency procurement method as stated in Table 5.0 above.”
The Bureau had in the response document asked TCN to “officially make a request for these projects through Direct Procurement method and provide full status of the projects including payments made so far.
“The Bureau reasons that proper needs assessment and planning would have provided the TCN the opportunity to identify the projects that require urgent attention, perhaps such situations would have been arrested through other special methods of procurement.”
“The BPP hopes that the TCN did not deliberately skew the scope of works and contract sums in such a way that not even one of the projects required MTB nor FEC approval.
“If this is found to be the case during the Bureau’s oversight, we will not hesitate to invoke severe sanctions on TCN management,” it also said.
The BPP warned that the “TCN’s attention is drawn to note that subsequent volume or stockpile of emergency procurements carried out by it without immediate submission of such for approval after the cessation of the emergency situation will not be considered by the Bureau”.
TCN, in a rejoinder by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, refuted the allegations, asserting that the company did not violate the provisions of Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, as claimed by the BPP document.
Mbah emphasized that according to Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act 2007, emergency procurement is permissible under specific conditions, such as when the country faces a disaster, war, or act of God, warranting urgent action to maintain the value or usefulness of goods or infrastructure.
She clarified that TCN can undertake emergency procurement under such conditions, ensuring that every contract awarded follows due process.
Mbah highlighted the rigorous scrutiny processes in place within TCN, involving departments such as Technical, Legal, Procurement, and Audit, to ensure compliance with regulations and qualifications of contractors.
She stressed the commitment of TCN’s management to professionalism and efficiency in fulfilling its mandate, particularly in meeting Nigeria’s electricity needs and maintaining service level agreements with distribution companies.
In conclusion, she underscored the importance of understanding the complexities of managing electricity generation and distribution, emphasizing the sensitivity of the sector and the professionalism required to navigate its challenges.
