Fresh facts emerged that the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh lavished more than N500million on the acquisition of four brand new units of bullet-proof official cars for himself and the other three Executive Directors of the agency.

This is happening in a country where majority of the 200 million citizens live below poverty line, as the country has been declared poverty capital of the world, a position it assumed in 2019, having taken over from India.

The four official bullet-proof cars, according to competent sources, consist of one bullet proof Toyota Lexus Sports Utility Vehicle SUV 2020 model, which was acquired at over N150million is for the DG while the remaining three bullet-proof Toyota Prado SUVs were acquired at over N100million a piece for the three Executive Directors. The agency has three Executive Directors comprising ED, Finance and Administration, ED Shipping Development and ED, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services.

The source also disclosed that these are in addition to the acquisition of other exotic SUVs, which make up the convoys of the four topmost staffers of the agency, which have cost the Nigerian taxpayers in excess of N500million.

The DG, who is currently a governorship aspirant under the ruling All Progressives Alliance APC in Kaduna State, had voluntarily retired from the agency in 2016 as an Assistant Director and was subsequently appointed Executive Director, Finance and Administration the same year, has also been alleged to have lavished several hundreds of millions of naira to refurbish and equip his office. This was sequel to his appointment as the Director General on March 10, 2020, which follows the inability of his former boss and immediate past DG, Dr Dakuku Peterside, who was appointed in 2016 to secure a second tenure in office.

Recall that the agency under the watch of Dr Jamoh had also recently acquired a new head office complex on Victoria Island at the cost of N17.47billion, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council FEC anyway. But stakeholders have however questioned the rationale behind the acquisition of the new office, less than one year after the former management, under which Jamoh was ED Finance and Administration (second highest ranking officer after the DG) spent hundreds of millions of naira to renovate the Burma Road, Apapa head office, which is still being renovated till date.

The stakeholders had argued that the DG chose to spend such huge taxpayers’ money to acquire a new office building when the Apapa gridlock has disappeared. They also argued that most shipping service providers and users serviced by NIMASA are domiciled in Apapa, adding that the additional cost of navigating from Apapa to Victoria Island to access NIMASA’s services would eventually be passed to the final consumers.

Meanwhile, Assistant Director, Public Relations unit of NIMASA, Osagie Edward, when contacted on phone, said it was a lie and that there was nothing like that.