An Abuja Federal High Court has been asked to restrain the Minister of Interior, the Comptroller-General of Prisons, the Nigerian Prison Service and two others from re-awarding the contract for the construction of a prison in Nnewi, Anambra State. Other defendants in the suit are Minister of Works and the Attorney-General of the Federation. A firm, Jeph International Nigeria Limited, which filed the suit, alleged that some senior personnel of the interior ministry and the prison service were planning to re-award the contract to a new set of contractors. According to the plaintiff, the contract for the construction of the 80-bed medium security prison was awarded to it in 1983, after which it commenced works in 1985 and had been able to self-finance the project up to 50 per cent completion. However, the plaintiff added that paucity of funds forced it to suspend work on the project, with the ministry and the prison service assuring that it would be remobilised as soon as funds were made available. In a supporting affidavit, the firms Chief Executive Officer, Michael Anago-Amanze, stated that rather than keep to its pledge to provide funds for his company to resume work on the project, the Comptroller-General of Prisons, earlier this year, allegedly authorised the invitation of fresh bids for the same project. Anago-Amanze maintained that the plan to re-award the valid and subsisting contract was meant to ensure that the project was given to proxies of some senior officials of the prisons service, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Works. In a motion for interlocutory injunction, the plaintiff asked the court to restrain the defendants from proceeding with their plans to re-award the contract pending the determination of the substantive suit. It argued that the defendants could not justify the purported cancellation of the contract earlier granted to it on the pretext that it was awarded in violation of the Public Procurement Act 2007 as the Act, which he contended could not be applied to a contract awarded over 20 years before the law was enacted.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 00:35:21 +0000