I was not surprised by recent press reports that false allegations concerning me were made by His Excellency Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the endlessly petty former Minister of Transportation.
Nigerians have to get used to his lying, twisting facts, and speaking out of turn throughout his more than 20 years in public office.
Here is a person who, despite the fact that his public behavior belies this claim, once boldly said to Nigerians that he dislikes money. Nothing he says should surprise us since it has to be the most amazing falsehood any public figure, living or dead, has ever told Nigerians.
Apart from the hyperboles, distortions of reality, and downright lies he presented to his audience on Thursday, the former Minister made no new revelations that I had not already disclosed in my memoirs: Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Even after reading the book, which has been available for purchase since April 2023, he realized that I had told Nigerians the truth about the circumstances surrounding my “stepping aside” and ultimate resignation as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
In his tirade, Mr. Amaechi claimed that I had given a N2.8 billion contract. That is untrue. I’m not sure where the former Minister obtained his N2.8b estimate, given this charge was not included in the list of transgressions he sent me in response to a question about the findings of the Administrative Panel of Inquiry he established.
The sole matter concerning a contract award in the inquiry was the urgent acquisition of operating automobiles in the wake of the October 21, 2020, vandalism at the NPA’s Marina headquarters in Lagos.
Under the heading “Unilateral and improper use of the emergency procurement mode to procure vehicles,” this topic was covered in Query E.
In this instance, the NPA’s management was charged with acting without the Federal Executive Council’s consent when purchasing operational vehicles on an emergency basis “to the tune of One Billion, Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven Million, Six Hundred and Sixty Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Eighty-Three Naira Ninety Five Kobo(N1,277,669,183.95).”
In response to the question about the N1.2 billion expenditure, I stated that we had made the purchase in accordance with Sections 43 (1) (a), (2), (3), and (4) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 (PPA), which permits procuring entities to make purchases because of urgent needs and to acquire the required approval after the purchase is completed. The book’s pages 166–171 contain a thorough account of the answer to the inquiry, including the approval that was granted and the purported escalation of the car costs.
The FMOT question in Item F addressed waivers, a topic that the previous Minister also discussed. The book’s pages 171–175 contain the query and my answer outlining the facts and rationale for each waiver that the NPA management has given.
Regarding Query C, which was published on pages 163–165 of the book and claimed the “unilateral execution of a supplemental agreement in respect of Lekki Deep Sea Port Concession Project,” he misrepresented the facts.
In my response, I explained as follows:
“The Authority was of the view that the supplemental agreement was operational in nature and does not alter any major aspect of the concession agreement as it only rescheduled construction timeframe for a berth and allowed other players to partake in the development of dry bulk since the company was constrained to embark on the construction at that time …”
Mr Amaechi also claimed that I was indicted on some ten counts. I do not know what these ten counts are, because no one communicated any such indictments to me. But can I ask him whether these counts include the alleged non-remittance of the sum of N165bill non-remittance of operating surpluses to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) for which he sought and obtained former President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval to investigate the accounts of the NPA and my “stepping aside from office?” Is it not true that this weighty allegation did not appear in the query that I received from the Ministry after the conclusion of the work of the panel?
Media reports from his lecture said that Mr Amaechi “brandished” the panel report saying that he is keeping it to himself. But I wonder what the secrecy about the report is when the details of the alleged infractions were published as Appendix iii, from pages 157 through 179 of my book. On these pages, I shared the full official query issued to me on the alleged infractions arising from the investigation of the panel of inquiry by the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT), and my response.
But more importantly, why is he the only one who has had access to this report?
Mr Amaechi carries on like this was his personal document with which he can grandstand by showing his cronies and blackmailing other Nigerians. But no! This is an official document that should be in government custody and copies should be made available to parties that have been so indicted for action in line with the recommendations. But he goes about like he is the government and that he makes the sole decision on what to do with government documents.
He talked about four printed copies out of which two were stolen, and even had the audacity to suggest that I was hoping for his own copy (which should not be in his house), would be stolen. Really? How ridiculous and improper can people get with public office?
His claim that he Is keeping the report close to his chest to protect the interest of some “prominent Nigerians” who did not “look for his trouble,” is self-serving and condescending.
This attitude again reflects the former Minister’s mindset. Does he own Nigeria? Does “looking for his trouble” or not determine whether people are held accountable for monies they owe Nigeria? If people owe Nigeria money and have been asked to refund, why should the former minister hold on to such recommendations because they didn’t “look for his trouble?”
Finally, he made so much fuss about whether I gave him a birthday gift or not. While this is a trivial issue, the question he should answer is whether he complained to someone that I never gave him a birthday gift as Minister or not.
He referenced that I worked under him from 2013 and inferred that anyone working under him for that period would have given him birthday presents. I wonder why it should be automatic to give anyone birthday presents because you work for them. Such entitlement disposition is responsible for a lot of misbehaviours exhibited by people like Mr Amaechi when Nigeria bestows them with opportunities for public office. The truth is that no one owes you anything!
In any case, I only worked with him between December 2014 to May 2015. So, how many birthdays would have gone past within that period that I would have given him “a lot of birthday presents,” as he claimed.
If indeed I offered him a present while he was Minister and he turned down my gift, why then did he complain that amongst my “many crimes”, was the fact that I never gave him a birthday present? The Minister should please stop ridiculing himself by fabricating these stories that do not add up.
It Is a good thing to see that the former Minister has finally recovered from his failed presidential bid and is crawling back into public life. However, he should not and cannot make Hadiza Bala Usman the subject of his attempt at a rebound.
Mr Amaechi would definitely have his perspective of the events of the five years I served Nigeria as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority under his supervision. There is no problem with that, but when he shares his perspective, I suggest that he endeavours to stick to the facts and resist the apparently usually overwhelming urge to speak arbitrarily and spread falsehood.
•Hadiza Bala Usman writes from Abuja.