An indigenous company, Rozi International Nigeria Limited, has sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to President Muhammadu Buhari seeking his intervention and directive over the flagrant disobedience of the order of Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja in respect of the award of a sensitive International Cargo Tracking System (ICTN) contract. The firm in a letter tagged: ‘Re: Suit No. FHC/ABI/CS/2289/2022-Rozi International Nigeria Limited vs the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Transportation and Ors’, dated May 15, 2023, written by its counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and M.A Mahmud (SAN), urged the president to direct relevant government agencies to obey the order of the court delivered on December 23, 2022, which ordered parties in the suit to maintain status quo.

According to the letter, the firm obtained approval from the federal government to commence the project-International Cargo Tracking Note Scheme (ICTN)-and took active steps and incurred tremendous costs towards the actualisation of the scheme, and a team of stakeholders comprising of the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMoT), and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) conducted due diligence on its facility in Italy on December 3, 2021.

The letter added that “despite the financial commitments, expenditures and investments made by Rozi International towards the execution of the scheme, the first to forth defendants turned around during the subsistence of the approvals granted to our client and encroached on our client’s rights by seeking to grant a fresh approval to the sixth to 19^th defendants.

“This necessitated the commencement of suit number FHC/ABI/CS/2289/2022, seeking declarative and injunctive reliefs pertaining to the International Cargo Tracking Note Scheme and procurement of companies thereto.”

The firm stated that concurrent with its statement of claim, it also filed a Motion Exparte on December 13, 2022, seeking orders of Interim Injunction against all the defendants in the suit and for the maintenance of status quo pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction.

The court also restrained all five defendants sued in the suit – the Minister of Transportation, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the two firms-from taking any further steps concerning the appointment of an operator for the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN).

The firm noted that despite pendency of suit and in defiance of the express injunctive orders of the court, the subject matter was presented at the Federal Executive Council meeting held on February 15, 2023, for the purpose of taking the approval already granted to it and transferring same to the sixth-10^th defendants for the duration of 15 years.

The letter called on President Buhari to urgently give necessary directive and ensure that the order of court is obeyed.

The letter read: “Mr. President Sir, our client is not unaware of, and has indeed further briefed us of the directive from the presidency to ensure a quick determination of all cases that may stall the conclusion of the procurement process and the appointment of ICTN operators; and pursuant to the sad directive that the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (third Defendant) was asked to give status report of all cases involving Cargo Tracking Notes.

“May we again draw the attention of the president to the fact that right from the get-go sir, that is, long before August 19, 2021, or taking effect from August 19, 2021, when Mr. President re-confirmed his earlier approval and directed that the Ministry of Transportation should engage Messrs. Medtech Scientific Limited in partnership with Rozi International (Nigerian) Limited to be presented to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to avoid delay in the implementation of ICTN, our client has/had acquired vested interest in this critical subject, and we have its instruction to inform the president that it has invested so much of its goodwill and intellectual property on same. At no time did our client waive or surrender this massive interest of it. Rather, all along, it has kept on, either by itself or through its counsel, protesting the hijacking of this project from it to other parties on January 3, 2023, our client duly informed the minister.

‘’Having said all these, and appreciating the fact that the president believes in due process, may we, on behalf of our client, and on its instruction, respectfully enjoin the president to direct a stay of all actions and steps on this very critical and fundamental subject, bearing in mind the far-reaching effects which its implementation, as being presently projected, would ultimately have on the project itself, as well as the overall economy.” (THISDAY)

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