How Nigerians Headline Major Ghana Scandals

Nigerians have increasingly come for discussion in Ghana after series of scandals involving contracts deemed questionable. 

The latest scandal revolves around one Horpe Omotayo-Ojo who claims to be related to Ex-Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. 

The said Horpe who also has links to Jubilee House through his Nigerian “Sister” there took payments running into millions of dollars to provide schools internet but failed to despite taking payment. 

This Nigerian man who took over Busy Internet under questionable circumstances without making the full payment to Busy Internet’s Indian owner was awarded the school’s internet contract on a sole-source basis, with an agreement to be paid GHS6.3 million by the government every month for internet services for five years.

The Ministry of Education paid Busy Internet GHS63.7 million between 2020 and 2022 and an additional GHS56 million between January and September 2023, for its services at a time when some of these schools had no internet service. 

In May 2023, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) approved an increment in the monthly recurrent expenditure from GHS6.3 million to GHS11.5 million. The PPA transferred the contract from Busy Internet to Lifted Logistics which was not a licensed Internet service provider then.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor is set to probe this matter further. 

Nigerians playing around in Ghana

It will be recalled a Nigerian firm was fingered in the airport COVID 19 testing scandal after minority alleged the state was being ripped off by a company linked to a Nigerian tycoon. 

Investigation showed that Healthcare Solution Services Limited running the COVID-19 test at $150 with the state of Ghana fleeced is owned 100% by another company called ‘The Peters Family Company Ltd’. This company is registered in Dominican Republic, a notorious offshore/tax haven and investigations point to the fact that the company belongs to a Nigerian billionaire businessman called Benedict Peters. The minority said the award of the contract to Frontier Healthcare Solution Services Limited is a grand scheme by the Akuffo Addo government and his family and friends to enrich themselves at the expense of people who are struggling to make ends means.

Another Nigerian, Sarah Mary Olufemi Adetola who was a girlfriend and later wife of Asante Bediatuo, secretary to President Akihito-Addo was also allegedly involved in another controversial mathematical sets contract.

Femi Bediatuo as she is now known was cited in the multimillion dollar contract to supply mathematical set which former Education Minister, Mathew Opoku Prempeh and his onetime Deputy Dr. Yaw Osei Adutum were grilled on by the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

The botched contract led to the arrest of the contract middleman, one Kwadwo Darko-Mensah alias Onasis by the National Investigations Bureaus (NIB) formerly Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to assist in an investigation over the contract. 

The same Femi Bediatuo is reportedly behind a juicy Airport CIP management contract that was alleged by Hopeson Adorye.