A document has revealed how the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nonye Ayeni, approved the award of contracts worth ₦229,953,801.82 to companies that were not registered on the database of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), in apparent violation of Nigeria’s procurement laws.
According to the document, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters, an audit of the Council’s financial records for the year under review showed that several contractors who received contracts from the NEPC could not be traced on the CAC website as legally registered entities.
This discovery has raised serious questions about due diligence and compliance with the Public Procurement Act 2004.
According to the audit report prepared by a team of auditors from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, the contracts were awarded despite the apparent absence of legal registration status for the companies involved.
The auditors cited Paragraph 6(b) of the Public Procurement Act 2004, which stipulates that “all bidders in addition to requirements contained in any solicitation documents shall possess the necessary legal capacity.”
The report explained that failure to verify the legal status of the contractors before awarding contracts suggested that the companies were not subjected to due diligence tests as required by law.
“This depicts obviously that these contractors were not subjected to due diligence tests in accordance with the law before being awarded various contracts, thereby meaning that these contracts were racketed to them (contract racketeering),” the auditors stated in their observations.
Listed below are details of contractors who were reportedly unqualified, yet were awarded contract jobs by the Council.
According to findings, their status was not available on the CAC website at the time of verification.
Company Name: Lemesis Synergy Ltd, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N6,500,000.00.
Company Name: Zedhub Projects Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N9,615,875.00.
Company Name: Emmuddy Global Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N6,000,000.00.
Company Name: La-Gomez Integrated Nigeria Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N9,100,000.00.
Company Name: Lutowers Solutions Ltd, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N9,463,375.00.
Company Name: Gams Logistics and Services Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N12,506,474.00.
Company Name: Desdoval Global Services Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N7,664,750.00.
Company Name: Mumachat International Investment, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N9,460,000.00.
Company Name: New Millennium Resources Nigeria, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N9,433,125.00.
Company Name: Teraworks Com Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N44,572,000.00.
Company Name: Top Certifier International Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N98,561,800.32.
Company Name: Lemesis Synergy Limited, Contractor Status on CAC Website: Not available, Contract Sum: N7,076,402.50.
The total value of the contracts awarded to these companies stood at N229,953,801.82, according to the audit report.
Multiple sources within the Council told SaharaReporters that the agency has been gripped by fear and anxiety amid allegations of widespread financial misconduct allegedly linked to the NEPC leadership.
Sources alleged that public resources were being drained under the guise of executing contracts, participating in international events and processing questionable financial claims.
“There are palpable fears and anxiety in the NEPC over allegations of massive fraud, corrupt enrichment, embezzlement and other gross acts of corrupt practices being perpetrated by the Executive Director/CEO, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni,” one source said.
“Public resources are allegedly being drained on a daily basis on the guise of executing contracts, participating in various international events, payment of fictitious or fraudulent financial claims without justification. These acts of wanton siphoning of government funds are said to be running into billions of naira.”
According to insiders, the controversy began when auditors from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conducted a review of the Council’s financial statements for the 2024 fiscal year.
What initially appeared to be a routine audit exercise reportedly uncovered what officials described as monumental financial irregularities, including alleged fraudulent contracts, questionable expenditures.
A closer look at the queries issued by the auditors revealed alleged irregularities in the Council’s procurement process, including the award of contracts to companies not registered on the CAC website.
“This depicts that the contractors were not subjected to due diligence tests in accordance with the law before being awarded the contracts, thereby meaning that these contracts were racketed to them (contract racketeering),” the auditors noted.
The audit team also reportedly flagged additional procurement violations, including contract splitting and the award of contracts above approved financial thresholds.
A staff member of the NEPC who spoke to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity described what he called a culture of intimidation within the agency.
“This is not news,” the staff member said. “Madam (Ayeni) runs the office like her personal estate. Any staff member who tries to correct her is likely to be redeployed from his schedule to a state in the North-West or North-East where insecurity is at its peak.”
The staff member added that political considerations may be preventing authorities from intervening.
“Even the government of the day is not helping matters. Either they are not aware of what is happening in the NEPC or they are simply turning a blind eye due to political reasons. Either way, it is giving the government a bad image,” the source said.
Following the discovery, the auditors made several recommendations, including that the NEPC leadership provide explanations for the procurement decisions.
Specifically, the audit report recommended that the Executive Director/CEO explain why contracts worth N229,953,801.82 were awarded to illegitimate contractors during the year under review.
The auditors also recommended that the total sum of N229,953,801.82 be recovered en bloc from the listed contractors, noting that the companies were unqualified and ineligible to execute government contracts within the Council.
According to the report, the recovered funds should be refunded into the government coffers, while the NEPC management is expected to furnish the audit authorities with all relevant documentation relating to the disputed contracts.
When contacted by SaharaReporters, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Aliu Seidu Sadiq, said the council had not received any audit query from either the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation or the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation regarding any alleged infractions.
“There is nothing correct in the allegations you have raised. None of the claims is accurate, and we have not received any audit query from either the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation or the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation concerning any infractions,” he said.