By Faruk Shuaibu, Musa Luka Musa, Balarabe Alkasim (Abuja)

The Minister of Works, Sen David Umahi has said that the contract for the remaining sector of Section 2 of the Abuja-Kaduna highway was awarded to Infiouest International Limited, not Infoquest Nigeria Limited as stated in the Daily Trust report of Tuesday. 

Sen. Umahi, at a press conference yesterday, said the two companies bear similar pronunciation, stressing that Infiouest is a French word.  “Infiouest is a French name. In French, O is pronounced like Q. So the pronouncement is the same. If you pronounce Infoquest in English, it is Q, but if you pronounce it in French it is O,” Umahi said.

Curiously, however, Infoquest Nigeria Limited, the company Daily Trust reported as securing the contract in its report of Tuesday, quickly prompted the opening of an account on the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) portal in the early hours of yesterday.

Records show the account was created on January 21, 2025, at 05:59:42 WAT and last updated the same day at 07:59:03. However, the FIRS document shows that the company’s business status remains “Not commenced.”

In our yesterday’s edition, this newspaper had published the status of Infoquest generated at 22:21 (Monday, January 20, 2025) which shows that the company is inactive.

Speaking to our reporter, a source who is familiar with the procedures and operations of the FIRS, as well as extant laws governing awards of contracts, said Infoquest had never paid tax and had hurriedly registered as a tax-paying entity in the early hours of yesterday.

“It is a statutory requirement that for you to be given any contract, you must be paying tax and have your tax clearance certificate by the Federal Inland Revenue Service. They uploaded the details at an FIRS office in Lagos, Ajah. “As of yesterday (Monday), there was no record. It was registered today (Tuesday) with all the details,” the source said.

What CAC search on Infiouest International Limited show

A search by one of our reporters on the Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) site at exactly 17:23 yesterday, January 21, 2025, revealed that Infiouest International Limited was incorporated on October 24, 2001, with registration number 432413. The company’s listed office address is Waterboard Junction, by Ashinkubwa, Abuja, FCT.

Further examination of the site indicates that the company’s status may not have been active. But the minister of works insists that Infiouest is “corporately active”.

Similarly, further search on the company’s data on CAC suggest that though it was established in 2001, but only its record of filing of annual tax return in 2022 (which is 21 years after incorporation), and in 2023 are captured on the site.

Company remains active, says Minister

The Minister of Works, Sen David Umahi, yesterday described Infiouest International Limited as “corporately active and is absolutely in compliance with all legal requirements and regulations set by the Companies and Allied Matters Act.”

The minister, in a statement issued by his media aide, Orji Kalu Orji, said the ministry had no business relationship with Infoquest Nigeria Ltd, but has a contractual relationship with Infiouest International Limited.

The statement described the Daily Trust report of Tuesday as “mischievous”, and aimed at a deliberate orchestration to malign the Ministry and undermine the efforts of the Renewed Hope administration in revolutionising road infrastructure development, and to “demarket the company that has proven capacity in road construction.”

It demanded a public apology to be published in at least five national dailies “for unjustifiably publishing falsehoods against the Ministry of Works.”

The statement said that the ministry was facing a coordinated onslaught of “falsehood, blackmail, and gang-up by adversaries to the policy of the government because of the Ministry’s insistence on a new order of value for money, quality assurance, and best practices in project pricing and execution.”

He urged the public and the media to join in what he called “a desirable fight against national sabotage by some contractors”.

Earlier in his press conference, the minister had also described Infiouest International Limited as capable of completing the Abuja-Kaduna highway as the company has conducted several projects in the country.

“Some of its equipment is leased to Julius Berger Construction Company,” Umahi said.

“We want the public to know that we are facing a backlash. Corruption is fighting back but I want the public to know that our hands are very clean and those who are demarketing us, we have not collected any kobo from anybody, we are insisting that the taxpayers should have value for their money. That is why we have decided to brief you, and the documents are here,” he said.