After Alleging Persecution By AGF, Ex DG, NIMASA; Omatseye Opens Up On Tenure, Allegations

Ex-DG, NIMASA; Temisan Omatseye

•    Tells Court How He Netted N52Billion Into NIMASA Account
•    Says No N1.5Billion Fraud During Tenure
•    Says N271Million Fraud Missing In Court

Embattled former director general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Mr. Temisan Omatseye who is currently facing trial at a Federal High Court in Lagos has further opened up on his tenure as the agency’s helmsman and his current travails.
Mr Omatseye, last week during his ongoing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that there was no fraud amounting to N1.5billion in NIMASA during his tenure as being alleged.

Mr. Omatseye, who had opened his defence on Tuesday, told the trial Judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, that he believed the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Mohammed Adoke, was persecuting him.

He said that, he was being persecuted by the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke for failing to withdraw the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) case with NIMASA as ordered by the AGF.

While giving the background of what led to his arrest before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, Omatseye said that the agency was generating US$11million before he became the DG and within three months of his ascension as DG, he pushed the revenue to $15 million.

As a result of the increased revenue, the ex-DG said a whooping N52 billion was left in the fixed deposit account of the agency before he was suspended in December, 2010.

Omatseye who was on the dock to tell his story said that he was never involved in any contract or procurement processes during his tenure.

He said in his two years as the DG of the agency, he neither knew any contractor nor compromised the process of awarding contracts by the agency.

He also alleged that the ‘Omorodion Audit Report’ that was used to indict him and upon which the EFCC based his arrest and subsequent trial on is missing from the court documents. Also missing are documents which led to final purchase approvals in the agency.

Omatseye has been charged with an amended 27 counts bordering on contract splitting and bid rigging to the tune of about N271 million. Two years later, these charges were amended to - approving above his threshold as director-general of NIMASA. This, according to him is based on the fact that his persecutor could not prove that he got involved in the process of contract bidding in the agency.

Led in evidence by his counsel, Edoka Onyeke, Omatseye explained that the first time he sighted the report prepared by an accounting firm called Omorodion and Company was at the financial crimes commission's office in Abuja.

"On glancing through it and seeing what was alleged, I told them that if they had shown the report to me long ago, it would have made our lives easier", he told the court.
He further informed the Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia court that the report focused purely on the fact that he had split contracts to bring it within his threshold.

"All questions I was asked during my incarceration focused purely on contract splitting. At no time was there any question asked about me approving any contract above my threshold and if that had been done, I could have explained such in my statement to the commission tendered before the court as evidence by my prosecutor", he defended.

Omatseye said immediately he was bailed from the EFCC custody and having been placed on suspension as the director general of NIMASA, he paid a visit to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice who told him that a petition against him was brought by Yusuf Suleiman, the then-minister of transport who stated that he, Omatseye threatened to send him to jail.

"My Lord, he said he kept this all the time as the claims being made did not warrant the EFCC getting involved. But he immediately changed his mind the day I apparently told him to put the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) matter in writing and he saw me as arrogant and will keep this case in court till the end of this administration", the embattled suspended director general of NIMASA stated.
Omatseye, who had started his testimony on Tuesday May 19, 2015 by first craving the indulgence of the judge to allow him to go into background story, said the court could only appreciate his case if he was allowed to do so.

Though Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), EFCC prosecutor had raised an objection to that line of testimony, the judge, however, allowed Omatseye to proceed with his testimony.

The ex-NIMASA boss had said he is being persecuted by the AGF for refusing to withdraw the NLNG case with NIMASA. “In December 2010, I was approached by a gentleman, who at that time was the Executive Director of the Cabotage Service of NIMASA, in the name of Ibrahim Zailani. Zailani told me that he had been in a meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation, and that the AGF had directed him to tell me to withdraw a case between NIMASA and NLNG. I told him I was unable to withdraw the case because it was a board decision".

Omatseye while giving his testimony on the issue of approving above his threshold, told the judge that on being appointed the DG of NIMASA, he met a system whereby procurement was being carried out by petty cash and noting that the amount being signed was on the high side, he gave a directive that every single item that must be purchased must be bided for and the bid placed on the notice board for members of the public to participate.

However, a twist was added in the testimony when he discovered that some pages in the files from the procurement were missing. The missing pages to the bewilderment of Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia, the preceding judge and indeed those present in the court include pages 1-76; 79; 81-88 and 89-90. "My Lord, a file is supposed to tell the story of what the file is all about. But the file before me which the prosecutor is alleging that I signed does not tell any story about the contract being awarded or even services sorted for", Omatseye pointed out.

He pointed out that while it should be noted that he is not the person that prepared the files, "as at the time of interrogation, nothing else was brought to me except the purported audit report. My Lord, there are discrepancies why I was arrested in the first place and why I was brought to court", the suspended director general of NIMASA pointed out.

According to Omatseye, the documents in court could not form the basis for any contract approval in NIMASA. That the letter of award provided in court is not the contractual document between the agency and the contractor as the one the prosecutor provided is a mere offer for which the contractor is to accept and enter into an agreement.
" In this agreement, which is signed by the legal adviser and the DG, it states clearly the terms of the contract and also attached to it is the scope of work when tell whether it is just supply or a supply and installation. Failure to bring the contract and the scope of work is a major flaw as it forms the badis of the agreement between the contractor and the agency and the work to be done. Without this, the contractor cannot be paid. Therefore, my Lord, some papers are missing here. The DG cannot sign four paper sheets. The budget department, procurement, and other necessary departments must comment before a file can be said to be completed and payment made. In all this, the DG must sign all", he defended.

On the issue of the generating set, the embattled suspended director general of NIMASA told the court that the audit report said the market value of the Generator set was N89million only, "whereas I awarded it at the cost of N129 million. My Lord, as at the time, the so called report was put together in Abuja, no personnel of NIMASA was invited to present any paper, invoice or document. If they did, they would have known that the agency allows for five percent Value Added Tax (VAT); Five per cent withholding tax; 30 percent profit tax and another five percent interest tax, incase there is delay in payment. All amounting to 45 percent. My Lord, when added to the market value of the product in question, you will get N128million that it was awarded for and it was taken to the board which approved", he explained.

Omatseye pointed out that he never conluded or got involved in the bidding process as the director general and chairman of the parastatal tenders board (PTB). He told the judge that the process was infact conducted by the procurement department, that he never for once interfered in the process. " If I did, I would not have cancelled the contract when the contractor was not forthcoming with the supply. In fact, the said generator was purchased by the NIMASA management that took over from me"
he said.

Having taken his testimony, in the session that lasted more than six hours, the trial judge then adjourned the case to the June 1and 2, 2015 for the prosecutor to cross examine himhttp://shippingposition.com.ng/article/after-alleging-persecution-agf-ex-dg-nimasa-omatseye-opens-tenure-allegations