BY INNOCENT ANABA

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, was, yesterday told that investigation into alleged contract scam at the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, was inconclusive.

An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, witness, Mr Ibrahim Ahmed, said that there were no documents showing whether the contracts, which were alleged to have been split, were indeed supplied.

He testified at the resumed trial of former NIMASA Director-General, Raymond Omatseye, who was re-arraigned before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia on an amended 27-count charge bordering on contract scam, which he pleaded not guilty to.

He was alleged to have illegal transferred of the agency’s fund and contract splitting estimated at over N1.5 billion.
However, during cross-examination by defence counsel, Ahmed, “I made request for the performance documents orally from the people who made statements. I also requested for the documents from the contractors,” adding that he was unable to determine the “performance” of the contracts allegedly awarded by Omatseye.

“According to statements made by the accused person and the contractors, the items were supplied. The contractors said the contract was performed. I requested for documents showing performance of the contracts but was not given.

“Because the documents were not available, I wasn’t able to confirm the contract performance,” he added.

“It’s not everything I did in the course of my investigation that is contained in my statement,” he said.
He added that the said materials supplied to NIMASA were “almost the same thing” and ought to be awarded to a single contractor.