The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has given itself
a new mandate and it has nothing to do with money matters. It does not even
have anything to do with stabilising the foreign exchange regime or
strengthening the naira, desirable as that task is.
The new role of Nigeria’s apex bank is to launder
Nigeria’s image abroad.
In what is the latest in a trend of frivolous and
wasteful spending of tax payers’ money, the apex bank in April engaged the
services of APCO Worldwide Inc., a
public relations and political consultancy firm based in Washington DC, to help
launder the image of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the
country in the United States.
In the last three years, the icirnigeria.org has tracked many of such controversial contracts
amounting to over $6 million dollars awarded by different agencies of the
Nigerian government to foreign firms to launder the country’s image abroad.
From our investigations, such contracts, it
appears, are mere conduits for siphoning public funds.
Previous similar questionable contracts tracked by
this news website include a $3 million lobbying contract awarded by the
National Security Adviser’s office in September 2013 to Patton Boggs, an
American law firm that specialises in lobbying and a $1.5 million PR contract
awarded by the News Agency of Nigeria to Levick Strategic Communications, a
Washington-based PR firm.
There is also a $700,000 PR contract awarded by the
Nigerian Embassy in the US to Mercury Public Affairs.
The latest image laundering
contract awarded by the CBN has an initial fixed payment of $95,000, more than
N33 million at the parallel market exchange rate today, and is for a period of
three months beginning from April 18 to July 17, 2016. The contract
agreement, however, gives wide room for APCO to negotiate further fees when
necessary during the life of the contract.
According to a document
obtained from the US Department of
Justice by icirnigeria.org,
APCO is expected to provide media relations, stakeholder engagement, and
strategic communications services for Nigeria within the United States.
“Registrant (APCO) has
contracted with Davebrook Digital PR Services Limited to provide services for
the foreign principal (CBN) within the United States to promote positive
relations between the United States and the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the
document states.
The document states
further: “A copy of the Registrant’s agreement with Davebrook Digital PR
Services Limited is attached. The Registrant commenced services within the
United States for the foreign principal starting on June 1, 2016.”
The CBN contract raises too
many questions with nobody purportedly involved in it ready to provide answers.
There are also many curious things about the contract.
First, the CBN did not
award the contract directly to APCO but purportedly hired a Nigerian public
relations firm, Davebrook Digital PR Services, to engage the US PR
consultants. Davebrook, according to the document is located at No 1, Asabi
Cole, Ikeja, Lagos.
“THIS MASTER ENGAGEMENT
AGREEMENT (Agreement) made and entered into as of April 18,2016 (Effective
Date) with offices located at 90 Long Acre, London by and between APCO
Worldwide Limited WC2E 9RA, United Kingdom (“APCO”) and Davebrook Digital PR
Services Limited…(“Client”)…” are the exact words of the agreement.
Another curious point in
the contract is that although APCO is an American firm, the contract is
enforced by laws of the United Kingdom and Wales, not US statutes. Thus, the
person who signed the document for APCO, which is headquartered in Washington,
is James Acheson – Gray, the managing director of the firm’s London office.
Of the questions the
contract raises, perhaps the most obvious is why the Buhari administration,
which has enjoyed worldwide support and goodwill since its emergence in May
last year, would need to embark on any image laundering exercise.
Besides, why would the CBN
be the government agency to award a PR contract when the ministry of
information and the office of the media adviser to the president exist?
Also, what will the Buhari
administration benefit from a three-month image laundering job in the US?
But, most importantly, was
due process followed in the award of the contract? For this kind of contract,
the Public Procurement Act requires that the contract be advertised in at least
two international newspapers and a bidding process conducted, among other due
processes. From our investigations, it is unlikely that any of these processes
was followed.
What clearly proves the
contract to be bogus, however, is that the Nigerian firm which the CBN
purportedly hired to award the contract to APCO denied any knowledge of its
existence.
When our reporter contacted
the Managing Director of Davebrook, Adesida Adelekan, who is shown to have
signed the document for the CBN, to speak on the PR job, he expressed shock
that his company was linked to a contract awarded by CBN. He said his company
had never handled or been involved in any public relations contract with or for
the apex bank.
“This is news to me. Please
I want more details about this contract because this is the first time I’m
hearing about it. We don’t have any contract with either the CBN or the federal
government,” he declared, adding that some people might be using his company’s
name to feather their nests.
But the biggest scandal of
all is the denial by the CBN of any knowledge of the contract. When our
reporter contacted the spokesman of the regulatory bank, Isaac Okorafor, to
clarify issues surrounding the contract, he said that it does not exist as
there was nothing in the records of the bank regarding it.
When he was first told of
the contract, Mr. Okorafor denied any knowledge and said he would not “respond
to a rumour.” He asked whether the reporter had evidence of the contract to
which he got an affirmative response.
Mr. Okorafor then asked the
reporter to “do an email stating the details of the contract.” On Tuesday
morning, the CBN spokesman called our reporter to say that he had searched
everywhere and asked everyone, but there was nothing about the contract in
their books.
“I have searched through
our system, I’ve asked around and looked out for what you said at every corner
of our office and I can’t find anything like that. If you have any evidence or
document to show me, you can scan it and show it to me,” he stated.
Asked if he confirmed from
Kingsley Obiora whose name is provided as the liaison person for the bank, Mr.
Okorafor said the CBN governor’s aide also denied knowledge of the contract.
“I am telling you I haven’t
seen anything. I’ve asked everybody. So if you have any document to show me you
can scan and send to me…” he said.
He refused further
discussion on the matter and added that the newspaper could go ahead and
publish falsehood.
“I have answered your
question. If you want to go ahead and publish falsehood, you can go ahead. You
can’t expect me to comment on a document I have not seen. I am a professional.”
Also curious is the refusal
of APCO to respond to issues concerning the contract. An email sent to Mr.
Acheson last week Thursday was not replied until press time. Margery Kraus,
founder and executive chairman of APCO, who is based in the US, also did not
reply an email sent to her email.
By U S law, specifically
the Foreign Agents Registration Act OF 1938, as amended, every firm providing
services for a foreign principal is required to provide detailed information
about any contract signed.
The document in the
possession of the icirnigeria.org was filed and
signed on
June 9, 2016 by Terry Judd, a senior director at APCO on behalf of the PR firm.
He gives the registrant’s name as APCO Worldwide Inc. and its address as 1299
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20004.
In the filing, the foreign
principal is given as “Central Bank of Nigeria (through Davebrook Digital PR
Services Limited)” with address at “Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way,
Central Business District, Cadastral Zone, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory,
Nigeria.”
Also, in the document, the
name and title of the official with whom registrant deals with is given as
“Kingsley Obiora, Special Adviser to the Governor (Economic Matters) Central
Bank of Nigeria.”
The detailed activity for
which the PR firm will provide the CBN for three months at the cost of $95,000
is “media relations, stakeholder engagement, and strategic communications
services within the United States to promote positive relations between the
United States and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The contract document was
signed on April 20, 2016 by Acheson- Gray and Adesida.
However, the contract
document itself was not filed as an annexture with the US Department of Justice
as required by law. When our reporter checked www.fara.gov, the contract
document was missing and he had to physically go to the Washington office of
the Department of Justice to collect it. The official who provided the full
contract document could not explain why it was missing in the documents filed
with the Department of Justice.
The chief executive officer
of the Public and Private Development Centre, PPDC, which advocates
transparency in budget and public procurement processes, Seember Nyager,
questions the entire contract and condemned the trend whereby public funds are
being frivolously expended by several agencies of government to launder the
country’s image.
“All government contracts
must be bound by the Public Procurement law as long as state resources are
involved. All contract will have to be through competitive bidding unless there
is a reason to use a restricted method, and even then there has to be a
justifiable reason,” she said.
“In any case why is CBN the
one to award a PR contract for government? Is it because they have the
resources?” she queried.
“I don’t think it is a good
use of our resources. The unfortunate thing is that these things keep
happening,” she said.
This report was first
published by the International
Centre for Investigative Reporting. We have their permission to
republish here.
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