On March 31, 2011, when former President Goodluck Jonathan
commissioned the Customs Barracks, Kuje, Abuja, consisting of 120
four-bedroom housing units, many celebrated and commended him for a
job well done.
Then, a highly excited Comptroller General of Customs (CGS),
Abdullahi Dikko, regaled guests about the quality of works done and
said works would soon begin on phase two of the project, estimated
to be about 240 housing units.
The leadership of the NCS celebrated the feat among the rank and
file.
But, about eight years after senior officials of the Nigerian
Customs Service (NCS) and their families moved in, and have
continued to enjoy the many state of the art facilities in the
sprawling housing estate, named “Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Customs
Barracks,” the brains behind the project are left in the cold.
Not only have works failed to begin in the second phase, as
pledged by Dikko, those instrumental to constructing the first
phase, are now at daggers drawn with the NCS and its senior
officials, involved in the purchase of the estate, accusing them of
engaging in under-hand dealings.
The issue has now been taken to court as the man,who initiated
the project and built it from scratch to finish, Yemi Obadeyi and
his firm, Cambial Limited are now before the High Court of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) because, according to him,
authorities of the Nigerian Customs have refused to see reasons why
they should honour their obligations and settle the outstanding
debt, which is estimated at over N5billion.
In court documents filed by Professor Yemi Akinseye-George
(SAN), in the suit, marked: FCT/CV/607/2016, initiated in the name
of Cambial Ltd, the Nigerian Customs Service Board (NCSB), the
Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde,
Alhaji Garba Bala Makarfi and Barrister Umar A. Husain are
defendants.
The plaintiff stated that from 2003 to 2007, it obtained Estate
Development Loan, totalling about N1.42billion from the Federal
Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) which it deployed to the
construction of 120 units of four-bedroom houses in its parcel of
land located in Kuje, Abuja.
Cambial stated that after building the 120 units four-bedroom
houses, it put the estate up for sale, following which the Nigerian
Customs Service (NCS), in November 2009 “indicated interest in
buying the 120 units of four-bedroom fully detached houses at Kuje,
Kuje Area Council, from the plaintiff.”
It further stated that, the NCS later engaged experts from the
Federal Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Development (FMWHUD),
who evaluated the houses and and approved N40million per unit,
putting the total cost at N4,800,000,000 (N4.8b).
The plaintiff further stated that, rather than pay for what the
FMWHUD evaluated, the NCS, represented by Dikko (who was then the
CGS) and Makarfi (who was then Assistant Comproller-General
Finance, Administration and Technical Services), requested that
Cambial provided “additional developments/enhanced
infrastructure.”
The “additional developments/enhanced infrastructure,” the
plaintiff said, included “fully tarred roads within and outside the
estate, fully developed infrastructure like drainage system,
dedicated transformers, water tank, treatment plants and the
provision of landscaped environment-friendly neighbourhood, among
others.”
The plaintiff stated that Dikko and Makarfi agreed to pay
separately for the “additional developments,” which it eventually
carried out before the project was commissioned by then President
Jonathan.
Cambial further stated that it became suspicious about the true
intention of Dikko and Makarfi when, on April 1, 2010, its account
with Zenith Bank was credited with N3,980,952,380.96kby the
NCS/Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the proceeds of the sale of
its 120 housing units.
But, that despite its protestations, Dikko and Makarfi ordered
the bank to deduct N819,047,619.04 from the N4.8billion, which was
the actual amount the houses were to be sold, before it could be
allowed to access the funds.
The plaintiff added that, upon it demand to know what the
deduction was meant for, Dikko and Makarfi said the deducted
N819,047,619.04 was for legal fees, agency fees, Value Added Tax
(VAT) and Withholding tax.
“The protests of the plaintiff that the legal and agency fees
were supposed to be borne by the NCS, as the purchaser, did not
yield any results and the defendants went on to deduct the legal
and agency fees.
“The 3rd and 4th defendants (Dikko and Makarfi) further coerced
the plaintiff to pay another N1,100,952,380.96 to the law firm of
the 5th defendant (Umar Hussaain) trading under the name and style
of Capital Law Office.
“The plaintiff avers that, on the order and or directive of the
3rd and 4th defendants, the completion deposit of the sum of
N1,100,952,380.96 was paid into the account of the 5th defendant’s
law firm (7200057379: Stanbic-IBTC) as agent and external solicitor
of the NCS to ensure that the plaintiff carried out all the
finishing touches in the houses.”
Cambial stated that, despite having fully completed works in the
houses and handed them to the NCS, the defendants have held onto
its N1,100,952,380.96. and have refused to pay the cost of the
“additional developments/enhanced infrastructure,” which it
estimated at N3,602,083,620.81.
It stated: “the NCS has since taken possession of the 120 houses
in the estate and renamed the estate ‘Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Customs
Barracks.’
“The residents of the estate are enjoying the enhanced
infrastructures including the roads constructed by the plaintiff,
which are yet to be paid for.”
Cambial stated that the defendants’ failure to settle their
indebtedness has made it difficult to repay the loan it took from
the FMBN.
The plaintiff is praying the court to among others, order the
defendants to pay it N3,602,083,620.81 being cost of the enhanced
infrastructure/additional developments, including the roads built
within and around the estate; N745,952,380.96 being the balance of
the N1.1b it paid to Capital Law Office; N4billion in special
damages; N500m in general damages, including interests.
In a pre-action notice written, on behalf of the plaintiff, by
Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), to the NCS, he queried the propriety of
the conduct of the Customs officials.
Babalola wondered why Dikko and Makarfi (who later became
Director, Human Resources, NCS) asked Cambial to pay the N1.1bn,
which was intended as security for the project, into the account of
a private law firm which has no statutory relationship with the
NCS.
He also queried why the officials of the NCS compelled Cambial
to pay for legal and agency fees and taxes, without issuing it with
receipts
The defendants have all denied any wrong doing and want the
court to dismiss the suit.
In a joint statement of defence filed by the NCSB, CGS and
Makarfi, they claimed to have effectively discharged their
obligations under the contract for the purchase of the 120 housing
units.
They denied any additional indebtedness to the plaintiff,
including the N1.1b, which the plaintiff claimed to have paid to
Hussain’s law firm at the prompting of the NCS officials.
“The plaintiff has been paid the contract sum in full and the
1st, 2nd and 4th defendants are not responsible for the plaintiff’s
inability to settle any alleged outstanding debt it owes to the
FMBN,” they said.
On his part, Hussain denied being an external solicitor or agent
of the NCS and its officials.
In his defence, Hussain did not deny receiving ,1,100,952,380.96
from Cambial, but denied knowing that the payment was in relation
to the housing estate purchase transaction.
He also denied being party to the property sale transaction
between the NCS officials and the plaintiff.
“The 4th defendant (Makarfi) approached the 5th defendant
(Hussain) and engaged his service to hold the said
N1,100,952,380.96 on trust.
*The said money is said to belong to a deceased family fried of
the 4th defendant, pending the issuance and appointment of
administrator of the said deceased family friend estate.
“The 4th defendants informed the 5th defendant that the money
will be paid by a company called Cambial Ltd and that the 5th
defendant should wait for the instruction on how he should disburse
the money on behalf of the 4th defendant, and in accordance with
the instruction of the deceased family friend to be communicated
through the 4th defendant,” Husain said.
He stated that Makarfi later gave instructions, between April 7,
2010 and June 15, 2010, on how he (Husain) should disburse the
money, which instructions, Hussain said, he carried out to the
letter.
Hussain added: “There is no any complaint by the4th defendant
against the 5th defendant on how the money was disbursed, as the
5th defendant complied completely with the instruction of the 4th
defendant on disbursements of the money.”
Culled from leadership
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