Concerned citizens are calling for an investigation into the ownership of the Obudu-German Hospital, which has become a focal point of controversy and conflict of interest involving high-profile figures in Cross River State. Archibong Jeremiah of TheInvestigator has uncovered troubling connections between Dr. Betta Edu, the sacked Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, who was the state’s health commissioner when the contract was awarded, and business moguls Cosmas Maduka and Samuel Josiah, suggesting a conflict of interest that violates the state procurement law, 2020.
The hospital, presented as a government project to promote medical tourism, is actually privately owned by Josiah and Edu, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability in public-private partnerships within the state’s healthcare sector. The investigation revealed that the government awarded the N500 million contract for the construction of the Obudu Specialist Referral Hospital, to a company in which Edu has a vested interest, contravening sections of the Procurement Law that prohibit such arrangements.
Additionally, it was found that the contract was never budgeted for and does not exist in other government records, further highlighting the lack of proper oversight and adherence to procurement protocols.
On Saturday, May 27th, 2023, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, commissioned the 140-bed Obudu-German Hospital, a legacy project of Senator Ben Ayade, then governor of Cross River State.
The first-class monarch described commissioning the legacy project as an honor and self-fulfilling experience. Elated, Governor Ayade, who was to leave office two days later, disclosed that the hospital was conceived to make Cross River the number one destination for medical tourism in Nigeria.
TheInvestigator in this four-month investigation uncovered a myriad of procurement violations and a web of secrecy surrounding the ownership of the hospital. It was discovered that the Obudu-German Hospital project fronted by the Cross River State government as its own is a private hospital owned by Mr. Josiah Samuel, the Group Managing Director of Coscharis Group Limited, and Dr. Betta Edu, sacked Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.
On Wednesday, March 3, 2021, Josiah and Edu incorporated Obudu-German Hospitals Limited with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for medical practice and consultancy services. The company has N5 million shares, with Josiah owning 95% and Betta 5%.
Just over two months later, on Monday, 10th of May 2021, the government in which Edu was a commissioner, engaged Coscharis Group Limited to build the Obudu-German Hospital also referred to as the Obudu Specialist Referral Hospital project, located at Ranch Road, Obudu LGA for N500 million (N500,000,000,000) only, according to data from the state e-procurement portal. Invariably, Edu, as Commissioner for Health, had awarded or influenced the award of a N500 million contract to a company in which she has an interest. This violates Part 3, sections 8a and 21 of the Cross River State Procurement Law, 2020.
Part 3, section 8a states that “Whenever it is established by a procuring entity or the Bureau that any or a combination of the service provider may have its bid or proposal excluded from situations set out hereunder exists, a bidder any particular procurement proceeding where –
“(A) there is verifiable evidence that any supplier, contractor, or consultant has decision making of any procurement activity; given employment or promised a gift of money or any tangible items or has promised, offered, or given employment, money, or other benefit, items or a service that can be quantified in monetary terms to a current or former employer of a procuring entity or the Bureau, in an attempt to influence any action or decision making of any procurement activity.”
While section 21 states “Persons who have been engaged in preparing for a procurement or art of the proceeding thereof may either bid for the procurement in question or any part thereof, either as main contractor or sub-contractor nor may they collaborate in any manner with any bidder in the course of preparing his tender.”
Based on Part 3, sections 8a and 21, Coscharis Group Limited’s bid should have been thrown away because the head of the procuring entity (Dr. Betta Chimaobim Edu) and the contractor (Dr. Cosmas Maduabuchukwu Maduka) are in business concurrently through Samuel Josiah.
TheInvestigator further uncovered that the budget reference code provided on the state e-procurement portal (052100100100-042100100113-23020106) does not exist. Still, scrutinizing the 2021 budget, TheInvestigator could not find the contract with its title, “Contract Award for the Execution of Obudu Specialist Referral Hospital Project”, meaning that it was not budgeted for. Thus, a further violation of Part 3, section 1b of the State Procurement Law of 2020 which forbids the award of contracts for items not appropriated in the annual budget.
It directs that “Based only on prior procurement plans, supported by prior budgetary appropriation, no procurement contract shall be awarded until the procuring entity has ensured that funds are available to meet the maturing obligation and subject to the threshold in the Regulations made by the Bureau, has obtained a Certificate of No Objection to Contract Award where applicable.”
Furthermore, the Commissioner for Health could have awarded the contract to her own company without the knowledge of the governor at the time – Ayade. As required by the Due Process Guidelines and Rules for Procurement of Goods, Works, and Services in the State of 2007, revised in 2020 issued by the Due Process and Price Intelligence Bureau (DPPIB) Governor Ayade and his executive council members must have given the go-ahead for the engagement of Edu’s business partner for the contract.
Part 1.4.3 of the rules for procurement (tender, evaluation, and award) of contracts by the Government of Cross River State mandates that “There must be the Governor/State Exco approval for the contract to be awarded; Procurement requests must be presented to the Governor for approval within the threshold or the Exco within its approval threshold as captured in the year’s budget.”
Dr Betta Chimaobim Edu, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management. She was Cross River State Commissioner for Health until her resignation in 2022 to become APC National Women Leader before appointment as a Minister.
Also, TheInvestigator examined the 2021 budget quarterly audited report released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and found no trace of the project and releases as claimed by the Ayade-led administration on the government e-procurement portal.
Surprisingly, the IRS has not yet released a report from the Auditor-General on the government accounts for 2021 to 2024; only those for 2018, 2019, and 2020 are available.
This shows the lack of due diligence the procurement law is meant to ensure through the Department of Due Process and Price Intelligence Bureau (DPPIB) as enshrined in the State Procurement Law of 2020, signed into law by Governor Ayade.
TheInvestigator visited the Director General of the DPPIB, Mr. Charles Atu, to know why due diligence was not done in the award of the contract, but he declined to speak saying “Like you know this is a new government. Go to the BPPP (Bureau of Public-Private Partnership).”
Upon visiting the office of BPPP, TheInvestigator met the absence of the Director General. But going through their website the project is not listed.
The reporter called the DG of BPPP, Dr. Francis Ntamu on Monday, November 18th, 2024 three times between 10:40 am and 10:42 am but the calls were not answered. But he called back and explained that he just landed in Abuja and would return to the state by Wednesday, when he would be able to attend to TheInvestigator’s inquiries.
When he returned, he did not respond to the inquiries in spite of several calls made to him, giving one excuse or the other.
However, a senior staff member at the BPPP who does not want to be mentioned had informed TheInvestigaor that “the project was domiciled here but was taken away to health.”
Structural Failure And Underutilization
Barely a year and a half after the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, commissioned the 140-bed Obudu-German Hospital as part of Governor Ayade’s legacy project, the facility is having structural failure.
The effect of water can be seen around the fence, the security post and three other buildings within the facility. The reception has a crack close to the door, some pillars and walls around the waiting area and corridors have been worked on, and a section of the outer fence was not plastered or painted.
TheInvestigator spoke to a top official in the Ministry of Health on condition of anonymity who revealed that the facility is underutilized.
“It is not fully utilized, the equipment is just lying there. There is no adequate electricity. Some of the equipment there is supposed to be powered 24 hours. Power is not supposed to go out for even one minute. So, the utilization of that place is below 5% even though the facility is topnotch,” the source asserted.
Unmasking The Beneficial Owners
TheInvestigator’s probe shows that Mr. Samuel Josiah and Dr. Betta Edu are the beneficial owners of the hospital. Section 14 of the Person with Significant Control (PSC) Regulations 2022, defines a beneficial owner to be a natural person who ultimately owns or controls a Company or LLP or the natural person on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted and includes those natural persons who exercise ultimate effective control over a legal person or arrangement. It further defines significant control as a direct or indirect holding of at least 5% of the issued shares, interests or voting rights in a Company or an LLP.
Records from the CAC Beneficial Ownership Register (CAC BOR) reveal that Josiah, Edu’s partner, who owns 95% ownership of the Obudu-German Hospitals Limited is a business partner of the contractor – Cosmas Maduka. In fact, he runs the Coscharis Group Limited, owned by Maduka, as Group Managing Director. The CAC BOR is a register for Nigeria’s beneficiary ownership of registered entities in Nigeria, following the international standard of Beneficiary Ownership Data Standards (BODS) under the guidance of the World Bank. This portal provides a search function and information on Persons with Significant Control (PSC) of registered companies.
L-R: Mr. Josiah Samuel and Dr Cosmas Maduabuchukwu Maduka at a function. Photo credit: Press Reader.
TheInvestigator was able to piece together seventeen (17) other companies owned by Dr. Cosmos which has Josiah as a director – 13 are subsidiaries of Coscharis Group Limited where he is the GM.
The companies are Swiss Biostadt Limited, C.G. Biostadt Company Limited, Chacom Motors Limited, Cocheds Oil and Gas, Coscharis Oil and Gas Limited, Coscharis Agro Limited, Coscharis Logistics Limited, Coscharis Ventures Limited, Coscharis Jaguar Limited, Coscharis Bmw Limited, Coscharis Mobility Limited, Coscharis Motors Assembly Limited, Coscharis Seeds Company Limited, Coscharis Land RoveThe r Limited, Chacom Mills Limited, Cosset Seeds Limited and Coscharis Investment Ltd.
With Josiah serving as director in the eighteen (18) companies owned by Dr. Cosmos, it is clear that he is a long-standing friend and business partner of the contractor engaged by Governor Ayade to build the hospital.
Shrouded In Secrecy
The true terms of partnership between both parties are shrouded in secrecy such that efforts by the current Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, who has paid an official visit to the facility, to lay hands on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and take control have failed.
The MoU between Coscharis Group Limited and the Government of Cross River State is mysterious.
During the Commissioner’s visit to the facility, officials met on the ground were uncooperative, and even discussions with the former governor’s family did not yield any clarity on the matter, TheInvestigaor learnt.
Dr. Ayuk attempted to know the true state of the hospital, whether it is government-owned and to see the MoU between the government and Coscharis, but they were not forthcoming. He even went to the former governor, Ayade, to inquire about the hospital, it was further gathered, but it was all to no avail.
TheInvestigator called the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Erasmus Ekpang, to find out if he had any information about the hospital but he did not. He then called his health counterpart in, who confirmed to him that the MoU could not be found.
At this point, Ekpang asserted that only the governor, “Senator Bassey Edet Otu” could speak on it.
Media Aid Defends Ownership Amid Procurement Law Concerns
Unable to speak to former Governor Ben Ayade directly, TheInvestigator called his media aide, Mr. Edward Egbelo Ntebri, to inquire about the true ownership of the hospital and why the procurement law was not adhered to.
In the interview over the phone, he denied any violation of the state procurement law. He insisted that the hospital is government-owned but could not answer why the MoU is out of reach of the current administration.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a company partnering with the government to ensure the project is completed and put into use.” Egbelo maintained.
He revealed that “The hospital was constructed by CIBA Construction Company Limited, a partner of Coscharis. But one thing I know for sure, from the conceptualisation of that project, I was somehow involved. So, I know what went on. I know Coscharis invested in that project.”
The company he mentioned, CIBA Construction Company Limited is a company owned by Josiah Samuel and 7 others.
Emir of Kano Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero today, Commissioning Cross River State Obudu-German Specialists Hospital in the company of His Excellency, Prof Ben Ayade and wife, Dr Linda Ayade, CEO COSCHARIS Group Limited, Dr Cosmos Maduka, Commissioner for Health, Dr Janet Ekpenyong among other dignitaries. Photo credit: Punch Newspaper.
Mr. Egbelo further disclosed that the only reason why Coscharis accepted to partner with the government was that Governor Ayade promised that the Obudu International Passenger and Cargo Airport would be ready. A promise yet to be fulfilled.
Dr. Betta Edu was contacted several times by TheInvestigator to hear her side of the story but she did not respond to calls made to her. Between October and the time of publishing this investigation, she was called on five times while six messages sent to her too went unanswered.
On Wednesday, October 9th, 2024, she was called six times from 12:28 pm to 12:53 pm. By 1 pm a message was sent to her via WhatsApp and Short Message Service (SMS).
On Monday, November 4th, 2024, another three rounds of calls and messages went unanswered. Seventeen days later she was called five times and three messages sent, but still no response from her about why the government would fund a private project and not adhere to procurement laws.
It Wasn’t A Contract, Coscharis Group Limited Owns The Hospital – Manager Spills
In sharp contrast to Egbelo’s position that the hospital is government-owned when contacted, Coscharis Group Limited claimed sole ownership of the Obudu-German Hospital.
Mr. Abiona Babarinde, the group’s General Manager of Marketing and Corporate Communications, asserted this.
“In summary, we are to build the hospital and manage it as a social enterprise within the first few years of its existence. The government of Cross River State is to own 5% which translates to the sum of Five Hundred Million Naira (NGN 500,000,000) equity. There was no contract from the state government of any sort. It is not a contract.”
He further disclosed that there is no agreement between the Cross River State government and Coscharis Group Limited.
Abiona said: “The hospital is owned by Coscharis Group Limited but with the state government having 5% equity shareholding. The state government never funded the project. All the civil works and procurement of medical equipment were done solely and wholly by our organization.”
Abiona went on to plead with TheInvestigator “There is clearly an information gap and will be glad if your organization can correct such misleading notions. As stated in both points above, the state government has a stake in that it holds a 5% share capital in the hospital.”
Following up with Abiona, TheInvestigator questioned why the registration documents show Betta Edu and not that the state government owns the 5% he talked about. If Edu is holding the shares for the state government why is there no document to show that? He did not reply, on Thursday, November 21st, 2024, another reminder was sent to him but still no response.
Abiona’s position therefore leaves unanswered questions. Apart from the question over Edu’s ownership of the 5% shares instead of the state, why is there no evidence in public documents in concerned ministries regarding the State Government’s Stake Of N500 million? How did the government pay for this and what is the evidence?
Accountability Experts Calls For Public Inquiry
TheInvestigator contacted an accountability expert, Comrade Richard Inoyo, Country Director of Citizens Solutions Network to evaluate the findings of this investigation and he suggested the need for a public inquiry and potential legal action to address the allegations.
“Well, the issue here is that we’ve seen corruption flourishing across the country, and this is just one too many corruption occurring in the country, sadly enough, in Cross River state. But then the past governor seems to have a history of being attached to controversy as regards not only just how projects are executed, but how they are even handed to the private sector. So this is not new,” he claimed.
As regards the issue of the hospital having beneficial owners, Inoyo said “I think it’s a question of just government operatives at the highest level doing shady deals and ensuring that somehow, they cheat the citizens of the states. And that is just what we’ve seen with this issue of contractors becoming the owner of projects that are supposed to be owned by the state government, and then someone in government going around having a percentage share in it, rather than for the state. I’m of the view that it is extremely important for citizens to first of all call for a public inquiry into how this happened.”
The South-South Coordinator of #FolloWTheMoney Movement, Mr. Efanga Etim, was also concerned by the secrecy surrounding the hospital project.
“Based on part 3, Section 8A and 21 of the procurement law. This should never have happened in the first place in Cross River State because this kind of attitude lacks transparency and accountability. The action is undemocratic because democracy is for the people.
“You’re practically deceiving the people. So, for us at #FolloWTheMoney Movement, these are the activities that we seriously frown against.”
He called on the state governor, Senator Bassey Edet Otu to look into the project and ensure to set the story straight.
“I will urge the incumbent governor to swiftly move into this particular investigation and see how, if this is a private hospital, let the citizens let the private hospital, and let’s stop all these deceits.” He said.
On the potential danger if citizens of the host community get to discover they have been cheated, Efanga said: “if the citizens of that particular community get to know it’s a private hospital and not the public and government hospital that they knew. Things like issues like this trigger anger and violence in communities which we don’t pray for.”
The South-South Coordinator of #FolloWTheMoney Movement further stated that corruption like this has led to distrust in government. “We don’t trust in our government. We don’t trust our government can give us the best, we don’t practically, we don’t trust them to even give us the best, and they are still showing us that they can’t give us the best, even when they have all the things it takes to give us the best,” Efanga maintained.
TheInvestigator contacted the Cross River State Civil Society Network Coordinator, Leader Ben Usang who was alarmed about the findings of this investigation.
“We look forward to that hospital as being one of the key tangibles of the government of Ayade. I’m alarmed about the information at your disposal that we have institutions.” Usang added, “We were made to be aware that the Cross River State government owned that facility and that’s the basis of why we became interested.”
He called on the current administration of Senator Bassey Edet Otu to speak up about “who owns the hospital.”
Unpleased, he maintained that “We need where documents may need to be tendered, it should lead to a proper investigation. We have other previously owned government facilities that are in this ownership dilemma.”
To Governor Otu, he asserted “The people’s first government of Governor Bassey Edet Otu should respond to the cries of Cross Riverians especially those who are supposed to use that facility and do an investigation about the ownership. It is absolutely crazy that the Cross River State Government doesn’t own a percentage in the hospital.”
Inoyo, Efanga and Usang called for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC to investigate the contract for the interest of the people.
TheInvestigator produced this story through its Environmental and Accountability Reporting (EAR) project with support from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting and the MacArthur Foundation.
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