The Sokoto Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday May 15, 2020 arraigned two Chinese, Meng Wei Kun and Xui Kuoi, before Justice Mohammed Sa’idu Sifawa of the State High Court Sokoto.
They were arraigned on two-count charges of conspiracy and offering bribe to a public servant to the tune of N100 million.
According to the charge sheet, Count one levied against the Chinese read: ’That you Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuoi sometimes in May 2020 at Kasarawa area, Airport Road Sokoto, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Sokoto State agreed to do an illegal act to wit; bribery and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 59 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law, 2019 and Punishable under Section 60 (2) of the same Law’’.
The second count read: ‘’That you Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuoi on the 11th of May 2020 at about 2200 hours at Kasarawa area, Airport Road Sokoto, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Sokoto State, being staff of China Zhonghao Nigeria Limited, offered a bribe of fifty million naira as inducement to one Abdullahi Lawal a Public Servant (Zonal Head of Operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Sokoto Zonal Office) in order to compromise an ongoing investigation involving your company with regard to various contracts award/execution in parts of Zamfara State and thereby committed an offence of offering bribe to a Public servant contrary to Section 83 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law, 2019 and Punishable under Section 83 (2) of the same Law’’.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when read to them.
In view of their pleas, prosecution counsel, Musa Mela Gwani who appeared with Habila Jonathan, asked for a date to commence trial and prayed the court for an accelerated hearing.
However, counsel to the defendants, A. A. Usman, told the court that he had filed an application of bail for his clients and urged the court to grant his prayers.
Justice Sifawa adjourned the matter to May 18, 2020 for bail hearing and June 15, 2020 for commencement of trial.
Trouble started for the two Chinese when they offered the sum of N100,000, 000( One Hundred Million Naira only) as bribe to Abdulahhi Lawal, EFCC Sokoto Zonal Head, in a desperate bid to compromise ongoing investigations of a construction company, China Zhonghao Nig. Ltd, handling contracts awarded by the Zamfara State Government to the tune of N50billion (Fifty Billion Naira) between 2012 to 2019. They were arrested and now facing prosecution for such an act of corruption.
In another development, the African Development Bank ( ADB) has debarred Zhonghao Limited, employer of the two Chinese for 18 months, for fraudulent practices.
The company was debarred for fraudulently misrepresenting its year of incorporation, value of its reference contracts and cognate experience of its key personnel while bidding for two tenders under ADB-financed Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project for Oyo and Taraba States in Nigeria.
Debarment is the shutting out or exclusion of a company, an individual, an entity from certain rights, privileges or possessions owing to allegations of fraud, mismanagement or impropriety.
Apart from the 18 months exclusion from the bank-financed projects, the company stands debarred by other multilateral development banks like the World Bank group; Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-American Development Bank, owing to Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions among the banks.
