EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION: ₦1.04bn NOSDRA HANGAR PAYMENT CONTROVERSY: WOKE UNDER FIRE AS SIX FIRMS COLLECT PUBLIC FUNDS FOR SAME PROJECT, ₦805.78m RELEASED IN ONE DAY

TRACKNEWS ONLINE | INVESTIGATIVE DESK

The administration of Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke, Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), is facing mounting questions over more than ₦1.03 billion in payments reportedly linked to the construction of oil spill response hangars, with three companies receiving a staggering ₦805.78 million on a single day.

An investigation by TrackNews Online, based on payment details attributed to the agency’s records, has identified a series of transactions raising serious questions about contract awards, public expenditure, procurement transparency and the management of government funds under Woke’s leadership.

The figures reveal that six different companies reportedly received payments connected to the same broadly described hangar project. Three collected what were described as final payments in December 2024, while another three received mobilisation payments in April 2025.

Together, the six payments amounted to ₦1,035,524,937.05.

The critical question is why substantial payments were reportedly made to three contractors as final payments before fresh mobilisation funds were subsequently released to three other companies for the same broadly described project.

The records do not, by themselves, establish whether the contracts covered separate phases, locations or additional works. However, the sequence demands a detailed explanation from the agency responsible for safeguarding public funds allocated to oil spill preparedness and response.

₦805.78m RELEASED TO THREE FIRMS IN ONE DAY

On April 15, 2025, three companies reportedly received a combined ₦805,779,022 from NOSDRA.

The payment details were as follows:

Wedgewood Integrated Investment Limited: ₦290,473,269.28.

Willaf Nigeria Limited: ₦255,603,916.84.

Ezensha Nigeria Limited: ₦259,701,835.88.

Each transaction was described as a 30 per cent mobilisation payment for the construction of oil spill aerial combat aircraft hangars and oil spill response equipment storage facilities.

The payments were reportedly processed through three separate vouchers on the same day.

The concentration of more than ₦805 million in mobilisation payments within a single day raises questions about the contract approval process, the scope of work assigned to each company and the safeguards applied before the funds were released.

Who approved the payments? What were the precise contract values? Were the companies awarded separate contracts through competitive procurement? And what evidence demonstrates that the arrangements complied with the applicable public procurement rules?

These are questions that NOSDRA’s leadership should answer with documentary evidence.

The payments occurred during Woke’s tenure as Director-General, following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu in May 2024 and assumption of office in June of that year.

THE ₦229.74m QUESTION: WHY WERE FINAL PAYMENTS FOLLOWED BY FRESH MOBILISATION?

The controversy deepens when the December 2024 transactions are examined alongside the April 2025 payments.

On December 23, 2024, NOSDRA reportedly made three payments described as final payments for the hangar project.

Patmag Engineering Nigeria Limited received ₦77,674,305.73, Adei and Sons Nigeria Limited collected ₦77,559,981.41, while Ti-Ad Investment and Services Limited received ₦74,511,627.91.

The total was ₦229,745,915.05.

The payment descriptions referred to the construction of oil spill aerial combat aircraft hangars and facilities for storing chemicals, dispersants and other response equipment at airports in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Calabar.

Yet, approximately four months after those transactions, three different companies reportedly received fresh mobilisation payments for the same broadly described project.

This sequence raises a troubling accountability question: if final payments had already been made for the project in December 2024, what contractual obligations justified the subsequent mobilisation payments in April 2025?

There may be legitimate explanations involving separate project lots, additional works or different phases of construction. But those explanations must be supported by contract documents, procurement approvals and evidence of the work undertaken.

Without such clarification, the sequence leaves significant questions about how the project was structured, supervised and financed.

₦2.69bn IN IMPLIED CONTRACT VALUES: DID PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES RECEIVE PROPER OVERSIGHT?

The April mobilisation payments also point to potentially larger underlying contractual commitments.

If each payment represented exactly 30 per cent of its respective contract value, the figures imply contracts worth approximately ₦2.69 billion in total.

The estimated values are:

Company Reported mobilisation payment Implied contract value

Wedgewood Integrated Investment Limited ₦290.47m ₦968.24m
Willaf Nigeria Limited ₦255.60m ₦852.01m
Ezensha Nigeria Limited ₦259.70m ₦865.67m
Total ₦805.78m ₦2.69bn

These figures are calculations based on the reported mobilisation rate, not independently verified contract awards.

Nevertheless, the scale of the implied commitments makes the procurement records particularly important.

Nigeria’s Public Procurement Act 2007 provides a framework for competitive bidding, contract awards and procurement oversight. It also addresses the splitting of procurements to circumvent statutory requirements.

The central issue is whether the six contracts represented genuinely separate and properly approved works or whether the arrangements require further scrutiny under the procurement framework.

TrackNews Online calls on NOSDRA to publish the relevant contract awards, procurement approvals, project scopes and evidence of execution so that the public can understand how more than ₦1 billion was committed to the project.

₦382.7m CONSULTANCY PAYMENT: WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE OF DELIVERABLES?

The hangar transactions are not the only payments raising questions in the records examined by the investigation.

On August 25, 2025, APT Solutions Technologies Limited reportedly received ₦382.7 million as a 100 per cent final payment for geospatial and environmental forensics analysis of artisanal refineries in the Niger Delta.

The payment was recorded under voucher number 1001313860-4.

According to the payment details, the entire amount was released in a single transaction.

For a consultancy contract of this magnitude, the public deserves clarity about the scope of the assignment, the methodology used, the reports submitted and the evidence that the agreed deliverables were completed and accepted.

What technical reports supported the payment? Who certified the work? What findings did the consultancy produce, and how were those findings used by NOSDRA?

The payment does not, on its own, establish wrongdoing. However, the contract documents, technical deliverables and payment certifications are necessary to determine whether the public received value for the money spent.

₦15.36m PAID TO A COMPANY WHOSE REGISTRATION RECORD COULD NOT BE LOCATED

Another transaction raises questions about contractor verification.

On February 24, 2025, Support Systems (Nigeria) Limited reportedly received ₦15,369,389.30 as a 30 per cent mobilisation payment for consultancy services relating to the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation 2019.

The investigation reported that searches of the Corporate Affairs Commission’s public search portal did not locate a registration record under the company’s full name or the alternative names searched.

If the company’s registration cannot be verified, questions arise about the due diligence conducted before the contract was awarded and the payment approved.

However, an unsuccessful search of a public portal is not conclusive proof that the company is unregistered. Further verification with the Corporate Affairs Commission is necessary.

NOSDRA should clarify the company’s registration details, legal identity, contractual status and the documents used to establish its eligibility.

The public deserves to know what verification procedures were followed before the payment was authorised.

₦52.35m EROSION CONTROL CONTRACT IN EKITI: WHAT WAS NOSDRA’S ROLE?

The investigation also identified a payment of ₦52,356,972.04 to Patmag Engineering Nigeria Limited on February 24, 2025.

The payment was described as a 30 per cent mobilisation fee for erosion control in selected communities in Ekiti State.

This transaction raises questions about the relationship between the project and NOSDRA’s statutory mandate.

The agency’s principal responsibilities concern oil spill detection, preparedness, monitoring and response. Erosion control may ordinarily fall within the responsibilities of other government institutions, depending on the nature of the project.

Although Ekiti State is landlocked, that fact alone does not establish that the expenditure was unlawful.

The essential questions are whether the project had a demonstrable connection to NOSDRA’s responsibilities, whether it was covered by the agency’s approved budget and whether the appropriate legal and administrative approvals were obtained.

Why did an agency established to address oil spills approve mobilisation funding for erosion control in Ekiti State, and what specific statutory or budgetary authority supported the expenditure?

NOSDRA’s explanation should identify the project locations, scope of work, approving authorities and the public purpose the contract was intended to serve.

₦218.17m PAID OUT IN ONE DAY: PROCUREMENT AND PAYMENT CONTROLS UNDER SCRUTINY

February 24, 2025, also featured six other transactions reportedly totalling ₦218,178,033.93.

The payments included:

Ribodek Integrated Services Limited — ₦61,119,927.12 for office furniture and equipment.

Wedgewood Integrated Investment Limited — ₦43,665,901.32 for personal protective equipment.

Dipcrest Integrated Services Limited — ₦30,826,961.43 for biometric clocking and attendance systems.

Willaf Nigeria Limited — ₦14,838,882.72 for laboratory equipment, reagents and consumables.

Support Systems (Nigeria) Limited — ₦15,369,389.30 for data protection consultancy.

Patmag Engineering Nigeria Limited — ₦52,356,972.04 for erosion control in selected Ekiti communities.

The transactions raise questions about the documentation supporting the payments, the delivery of goods and services and the procedures used to certify the expenditure.

The reported payment of 60 per cent for biometric clocking and attendance systems also warrants scrutiny of the contract terms, delivery status and any applicable safeguards.

The available payment descriptions do not establish that any of the contractors failed to deliver or that the transactions were unlawful. Those questions can only be answered by examining the underlying contracts, delivery records, inspection reports and payment approvals.

MILLIONS PAID TO INDIVIDUALS FOR PROJECT ACCOUNTING, LOGISTICS AND TRAVEL

The investigation further identified payments to individuals for activities described as project accounting, stakeholder meetings, logistics and official travel.

On October 24, 2025, Ayemoba Prince Moses reportedly received ₦10 million for project accounting associated with the launch of ESI mapping.

On the same day, Chialika Okoruwa Samson reportedly received ₦8,570,556 for project accounting relating to a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos.

He reportedly received another ₦6.28 million on December 29, 2025, described as a duty tour allowance for an official trip.

Deji-Fabikun Olubukola Titilope reportedly received ₦5,343,516.50 on June 23, 2025, for logistics for experts attending a TotalEnergies NOSCP drill exercise.

The same individual reportedly received ₦5.28 million on April 22, 2025, as a duty tour allowance to field offices.

The amounts and descriptions raise questions about the nature of the assignments, the basis for the payments, the recipients’ official responsibilities and the supporting documentation.

Payments to individuals are not inherently unlawful. Their propriety depends on the applicable rules, the work performed, the supporting records and the authorisation process.

NOSDRA should provide sufficient documentation to establish the basis for these expenditures.

TWO CONTRACTORS HAD RECEIVED PAYMENTS BEFORE WOKE’S APPOINTMENT

The investigation also identified earlier transactions involving Ribodek Integrated Services Limited and Willaf Nigeria Limited.

Ribodek reportedly received ₦39,320,509.22 for office furniture and equipment on December 8, 2023.

Willaf reportedly received ₦24,397,673.68 for laboratory equipment, reagents and consumables on the same date.

Both transactions predated Woke’s tenure and were attributed to the period when Idris Musa led the agency.

They should not be attributed to Woke’s administration.

However, the subsequent payments to the companies in 2025 raise questions about their later contracts, procurement history and performance.

Willaf, in particular, reportedly received ₦14.84 million for laboratory supplies in February 2025 before collecting another ₦255.60 million as hangar mobilisation in April.

The relevant procurement and performance records would help establish the circumstances surrounding those subsequent contracts.

THE QUESTIONS CHUKWUEMEKA WOKE’S ADMINISTRATION MUST ANSWER

The payment records cited in the investigation raise serious accountability questions for NOSDRA’s leadership.

First: Why were three contractors reportedly paid final sums for the hangar project in December 2024 before three other companies received mobilisation payments for the same broadly described project in April 2025?

Second: What were the individual contract values, scopes of work, project locations and procurement procedures for the six companies?

Third: Were the applicable procurement requirements followed, and what approvals supported the awards and payments?

Fourth: What evidence supports the ₦382.7 million consultancy payment to APT Solutions Technologies Limited, and what deliverables were certified before the full amount was released?

Fifth: What registration and due diligence documents were obtained before Support Systems (Nigeria) Limited received its mobilisation payment?

Sixth: What was the statutory and budgetary basis for the erosion control contract in Ekiti State?

Seventh: What supporting records justify the payments made to individuals for project accounting, logistics and travel-related activities?

These questions concern public expenditure under the agency’s leadership. They do not, by themselves, establish that Woke or any named contractor committed an offence. Establishing responsibility would require evidence of the relevant decisions, approvals, contractual obligations and any departures from applicable rules.

Nevertheless, the scale and sequence of the reported payments make a transparent explanation necessary.

TRACKNEWS ONLINE DEMANDS TRANSPARENCY

The transactions identified in this investigation raise questions about how NOSDRA planned, awarded and administered contracts involving substantial sums of public money.

The reported combination of final payments, subsequent mobilisation fees, a large consultancy payment and an erosion control contract warrants documentary clarification from the agency.

The public should not have to rely solely on payment descriptions to understand why money was spent, how contracts were awarded or whether the intended work was completed.

TrackNews Online calls for the relevant procurement records, contract documents, payment certificates and evidence of project execution to be made available to the appropriate oversight authorities and, where legally permissible, the public.

The central issue is accountability: can NOSDRA demonstrate, with verifiable records, that these payments were properly authorised, that procurement requirements were followed and that the public received value for the money spent?

TrackNews Online will publish any substantive response from Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke, NOSDRA, the named companies and the individuals mentioned in this report.

TRACKNEWS ONLINE
Independent Journalism. Public Accountability.

EDITORIAL NOTE: This investigation is based on payment details attributed to agency records.