When tall, dark skinned Yusuf Suleiman appeared before the Senate on June 29, 2011, one thing must have been on his mind: how to continue his activities as head of Nigeria's transport ministry.
Mr Suleiman's appearance on that Wednesday, 14 months after he was first appointed the minister of transportation, was supposed to be a prelude to his return to the transport ministry. Dressed in his usual free-flowing caftan, Mr Suleiman answered questions from the senators with ease.
The effortlessness with which he tackled the lawmakers' questions stemmed from his deep knowledge of agencies in the transport ministry. And this should not be a surprise, as he once worked as a director of administration and personnel at the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), a parastatal under the ministry.
The Senate had no problem confirming Mr Suleiman as minister. And after his confirmation hearing, President Goodluck Jonathan simply asked him to return to his former post at the transportation.
But three days after he assumed duties, the minister came to terms with the tremendous influence some former Niger Delta militants wield in the presidency. He was immediately redeployed to the National Sports Commission, as sports minister, following a disagreement he had with the director general of NIMASA, Patrick Ziakede, a protégé of former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a. Tompolo).
Presidency sources said Mr Ekpemupolo was instrumental to Mr Ziakede's appointment in the first place. It was a battle the Sokoto-born administrator could not win.
Both Messrs. Suleiman and Ziakede declined to respond to our requests for their comments. Mr Ziakede did not respond to calls or text messages sent to his phone. When contacted, Mr Suleiman declined to respond to any of our questions. He directed all enquiries concerning NIMASA to the new minister of transport.
Presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, and Mr Ekpemupolo did not respond to our enquiries either. Both men did not respond to calls and text messages to their mobile telephones seeking comments for this story.
The standoff
When Mr Ziakede, the director general of NIMASA stormed Mr Suleiman's office with four naval escorts on Thursday, July 7, security details attached to the minister allowed him in but blocked his security details.
Sources say an infuriated Mr Ziakede caused pandemonium at the office, raising dust as he insisted to see the minister alongside his security details.
"He began to shout, everyone was surprised. At some point he almost fell. When he saw that no one would accede to his demand, he cursed and threatened the minister and then left the office,
Presidency sources said after he stormed out of the minister's office, Mr Ziakede called Mr Ekpemupolo and his other militant friends who in turn contacted the presidency, demanding Mr Suleiman's removal.
When Mr Suleiman got wind that the militants were pressing for his ouster, a source said he contacted Tony Anenih, former minister of works and a member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, for help.
Mr Anenih is believed to be one of the most influential figures in the country who can get the president to do whatever he wants. A source privy to the meeting said Mr Anenih shocked the minister when he said Mr Ekpemupolo would have to be pacified for the minister to remain at his post.
"Anenih promised to intervene, but it happened the militant leader could not be pacified, The result was that Mr Suleiman was deployed to the sports ministry.
Mr Ziakede's problems with Mr. Suleiman did not start that July 7. It had been on before Mr Jonathan dissolved his cabinet on June 1st, 2011, and it involved the management of NIMASA, one of Nigeria's richest non-oil related parastatals and "one of the most mismanaged," according to a senior official of the agency who declined to speak on record for fear of losing his job.
The mismanagement of NIMASA
Temisan Omatseye, the immediate past director general of NIMASA, is currently facing charges of misappropriating about N4 billion of the agency's funds.
An audit firm, Akin Omorodion and Co., which Mr Suleiman hired upon his assumption of office, first indicted the former leader of the agency. He has since been investigated and is being prosecuted by the EFCC, alongside some other members of the former management of the agency. A few days after the removal of Mr Omatseye as DG in December 2010, Mr Ziakede was appointed as his replacement.
This appointment was not, however, without controversy. Several sources in the maritime industry claimed he was nominated for the position by Government Tompolo, a former leader of a Niger Delta militant group, Movement for the Defence of the Niger Delta (MEND), who has had several confrontations with the Nigerian Army before he embraced the amnesty programme of the federal government.
Our sources said shortly after Mr Ziakede assumed office, NIMASA became a playground for former militants allegedly led by Mr Ekpemupolo. Insiders said the DG constantly disregarded his agency's board of directors and the supervisory ministry while taking orders from the militants.
Those who should know said the militants decided who got employment and contracts at the agency. The overbearing influence of the militants on the activities of the agency and the alleged poor management of Mr Ziakede put him in constant confrontation with the minister.
"Phony and inflated contracts are given to shady companies owned by former militants, illegal deals are being perpetrated. In fact, NIMASA is now a worse cesspit of corruption than under Omatseye," our source in the agency stated.
The shady deals
On Friday, May 6, 2011, V.I. Onuzuruike, the acting director of finance and supply of NIMASA, wrote an internal memo to Mr Ziakede, the DG.
Titled ‘Revenue Collection up till 6th May 2011', the memo stated that between February and April, the agency had made a revenue of $44.4 million.
Mr Onuzuruike thus advised the sale of the foreign currency for local use of the agency.
"Management may wish to consider selling the sum of $30,000, 000 (thirty million US Dollars) from Zenith Bank, UK, at the prevailing exchange rate while the sum of US$10,000,000 (Ten million US dollars) may also be sold from Central Bank of Nigeria/Union of Nigeria Account," Mr Onuzuruike wrote.
Documents available shows that four banks bidded for the purchase of the foreign currency. The banks were UBA (150 naira), Skye Bank (150.50 naira), Spring Bank (153 naira) and Union Bank (154.00).
A bid of N153 was, however, preferred by the management of the agency over that of N154. In that transaction alone, the agency lost N40 million. This transaction, infuriated some senior members of the agency who saw it as collusion between Mr Onuzuruike and Mr Ziakede to rip the agency of the said sum.
One of those who complained about the transaction was Adeniran Aderogba, the director of finance and administration of the agency, who complained about the transaction going on without "reverting to my office." "Please provide clarifications as to why Spring Bank bid of N153 was chosen by you over that of Union Bank at 154 naira," Mr Aderogba stated in a memo to Mr Onuzuruike.
There were other strange dealings.
"The DG awards contracts to companies owned by fronts of some influential former militants. Some of these contracts are not necessary while many of them do not follow due process,
A company that benefits from such contracts is Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, a company allegedly owned by Mr Ekpemupolo's associates.
"It is one militant leader who comes to collect cheques due to this company (Global West). Ask the people in our finance department. They may be afraid to tell you. But any investigation will reveal that it is not people who claim to own the company who collect all cheques due to this company," the official stated.
One of such contracts involved the supply of boats to be used for monitoring Nigerian waterways. Documents available to shows that no competitive bidding was carried out for the contract. Based on the arrangement, the company would provide, run, and maintain five patrol boats at N49.7 million per month.
Sources in the agency, however, insist that this practice, which has been on for five months and has cost the agency about N250 million, is just used to siphon the agency's funds.
"They use low quality boats. A new quality boat costs N15 million. If we had bought ours, it would have cost us just N75 million and it will belong to the Nigerian government. This deal is just one of the ways the DG funds the former militants who helped him get to office," our source said.
Personalised account
Perhaps, the most controversial action taken by Mr Ziakede is the management of the accounts of the agency.
Two months after assuming office on December 24, 2010, Mr Ziakede sent a memo to his director of finance and administration. The memo, titled ‘Re: New signing mandate and streamlining of NIMASA bank accounts', and dated February 28th 2011, effectively made the DG the primary signatory to the agency's accounts.
"Henceforth, the Director General shall be the only Class ‘A' signatory in all our transactions with the Banks (all Nigerian banks) with the exception of Access Bank Plc," the memo stated.
Our source said this means that the DG can bypass any official who proves a bottle neck to his dealings and still get his financial transactions done.
"Even the ED F&A (Mr Aderogba), whose signature is supposed to be necessary for financial dealings for accountability, can now be put aside," our source stated.
The source maintained that this action of Mr Ziakede as well as his other dealings has put him at loggerhead with Mr Aderogba.
Several documents available to us show bitter exchange of letters between Mr Ziakede and Mr Aderogba. Two of such documents show Mr Ziakede issuing two different queries to Mr Aderogba on May 10, 2011 over the latter's official actions.
Minister intervenes
Sources close to Mr Suleiman said it was his decision to look into the happenings in NIMASA that cost him his position at the transport ministry. So when he called Mr Anenih, it was to ask the PDP leader to placate Mr Ekpemupolo.
"I learnt that Tony Anenih called Ekpemupolo who assured him that they would let Mr Suleiman remain in his position. Apparently, Ekpemupolo reneged on his assurances. We later learnt that Ekpemupolo met the first lady, which eventually led to the minister's re-designation," our source said.
Mr Suleiman, who is not a sportsman and has no experience in sports management, has now been moved to the sports ministry as minister.
Our investigation shows that some former militants have become especially influential and prosperous since 2010 when they agreed to the amnesty deal with the federal government.
Oil companies and government agencies have rewarded many of them with lucrative contracts and many of them have taken up what appears to be permanent residences in Transcorp Hilton Hotels in Abuja, where the cheapest room goes for N48,300 per night.
