Huawei Moves to Sue Nigeria in London over $304m e-Customs Project

Huawei Technologies, one of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) partners in Nigeria’s disputed $304 million e-Customs project, would next month sue the Nigerian government in London, over moves by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to award the concession agreement to a company formed late last year as against the federal government’s approval for the engagement of a consortium led by Bionica West Africa Limited.

Since the approval of the deal, the management of NCS, which wanted a different shareholding structure and control of the SPV, had been battling the lead sponsor, resulting in litigations, Arise TV reports.

On September 17, 2019, the federal government granted approval for the project, which had been started by Bionica West Africa Ltd in 2018 with partners Bergman Security Consultant and Supply Limited (representing the NCS), Huawei, and African Financial Cooperation (AFC). This was in response to a memo that the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning had written to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

President Muhammadu Buhari granted anticipatory approval for the engagement of the Consortium Bionica Technologies West Africa Limited (Lead sponsor), Bergman Security Consultant and Supplies Limited (Co-sponsor), Africa Finance Corporation (Lead financier), and Huawei (Lead technical service provider) on September 17, 2019, acting on the memo by the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning to FEC for approval.

The major sponsor, however, and the administration of NCS had previously been at odds. It was discovered that NCS allegedly fabricated documents to enable it to remove Bionica, the project’s principal sponsor, and give those identical documents to a business purportedly founded late last year by a supporter of the Customs Comptroller General, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd.).