Huawei to sue FG over $304m e-customs project

The Nigerian government will be sued in London next month over actions taken by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to award the concession agreement to a company formed late last year in defiance of the federal government’s approval for the engagement of a consortium led by Bionica West Africa Limited.

Huawei Technologies is one of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) partners in the contested $304 million e-Customs project.

Since the acquisition was approved, the management of NCS has been in litigation with the primary sponsor over its demands for a new ownership structure and control over the SPV.

The project, initiated by Bionica West Africa Limited in 2018, with Bergman Security Consultant and Supplies Limited (representing the NCS), Huawei, and African Finance Cooperation (AFC) as partners, was approved by the federal government on September 17, 2019.

This followed a memo sent to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Acting on the memo by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning to FEC for approval, President Muhammadu Buhari had vide letter SH/COS/08/10/4/225 of 17th September, 2019, 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), to establish a project SPV to enter a 20-year concession arrangement with NCS and ICRC for the Customs Modernisation Project (Establishment of digital/paperless Customs Administration).