The House of Representatives had last October called for a thorough investigation into the murky circumstances surrounding a move to concession to a private consortium, a ‘modernisation’ project for the Nigeria Customs Service [NCS], for a period of 20 years. It is to cost the public till $300 million. The consortium comprises Bionica Technologies West Africa Limited as the main sponsor, Bergan Security Consultants and Supplies as the co-sponsor, Africa Finance Corporation [AFC]as the lead sponsor while Huawei Corporation of China is the technical partner.
According to a document titled Re: Presidential Initiative on Customs Modernisation: “E-Customs Project” (Establishment of a Digital/ Paperless Customs Administration) and Other Matters, the Presidency had already approved the engagement of this consortium as a special purpose vehicle for the exercise on the Customs and also tags along the Nigeria Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (NICRC).
The House of Representatives’ worry was informed by grave irregularities noticed in the project, especially given the serious submissions contained in a White Paper. According to the White Paper on E Customs,the project is coming at a time when the Customs Service is already operating a modernized system with which it has attained the single window service delivery and an improved revenue collection regime. It is doubtful if the service needs any further “modernisation” after installing its state-of-the-art single window service and training hundreds of young IT experts in recent years.
Secondly, courtesy of the White Paper, the project was never advertised in order to provide for selection of the best prospective operators to execute it. Since it was not advertised the criteria for selecting the consortium is suspect, especially in the light of the critical significance for national security and long term run of the project if executed. The cloak of secrecy over it and the absence of any tender process have breached the Public Procurement Act and due process.
Also worrisome, as MPs pointed out, is the infiltration by foreign interests into the day to day operations of critical national institutions including the Nigeria Customs Service and Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN].There were also many faults in the constitution of the consortium. For instance, none of the members of the consortium has got any discernible experience from any part of the world, in the installation and operation of an automated revenue collection and management system, which is what the envisaged project is all about. Huawei, as the technical partner, has no history with respect to the execution of any similar project anywhere in the world. Hence if allowed to participate in the Nigeria Customs project, it will only use same as a learning field – a situation that is fraught with unnecessary risks for the country.
Meanwhile the Nigeria Customs Service has over the years benefitted from several reform and modernization initiatives, starting from the 1990s when it first migrated from the purely manual mode of operations to the machine-readable format – the precursor of subsequent reform measures. In the course of time the service had evolved the NICIS 11 with which it has built a robust paperless platform with links to organisations such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.
During the Obasanjo administration, inspection of cargo at the ports was transferred from Customs to private operators that were supposed to use scanners. Their scanners ultimately failed and the concession became a rip off, with the private leasers earning millions of dollars a month even when NCS had acquired the equipment and manpower to carry out the duty. Even when NCS under its then Controller General Abdullahi Dikko Inde asked government to terminate the lease and allow it to handle the duty, there was resistance from powerful vested interests.
We should not repeat this mistake again so soon. Whatever approval had been granted for this project should be suspended until the House of Representatives concludes its investigation into this murky arrangement.
