₦72 Million Syringe Scandal: Cleaning Firm and Inactive Company Bag Multi-Million Naira Health Contracts Amid Inflated Prices

Secrets Reporters

The Nigerian health sector has once again been thrown into the eye of the storm as revelations emerge over eyebrow-raising contracts awarded by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). At the heart of the matter is the award of more than ₦72 million for the supply of just 900 syringes—a deal many observers have likened to paying for gold but receiving mere plastic.

Documents show that in March 2022, the NPHCDA awarded two separate contracts to supply 450 pieces each of 0.5ml auto-disable syringes to Borno and Ogun states. But instead of following the straight and narrow path of due process, the deals were handed to companies whose records raise more questions than answers.

For Borno State, the contract went to Yuhaz Merchants Company Ltd, a firm officially registered in 2013 as a cleaning and waste disposal service provider. Despite its profile showing no trace of pharmaceutical experience, it was entrusted with a health supply contract worth ₦36.378 million. The syringes were to be stored at the North-East Cold Store in Bauchi.

Curiously, a related company—Yuhaz Pharmaceuticals Limited—surfaced on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website, registered only in July 2022, barely three months after the syringe project appeared in the NPHCDA’s approved budget. Though inactive, the timing has fueled speculation about whether the firm was created as a backdoor conduit for the contract or was just an uncanny coincidence.

The second leg of the deal went to Biomatrixx Healthcare Nigeria Limited, a company incorporated in 2014 as a pharmaceutical outfit but flagged as inactive by CAC records. This firm was handed ₦35.955 million to deliver another 450 syringes for Ogun State, with the supplies routed to the South-West Zonal Cold Store in Lagos.

When placed side by side with market reality, the contracts appear grossly inflated. A standard 5ml syringe sells for between ₦175 and ₦300 at retail value, and industry experts stress that bulk procurement typically comes at a discounted rate. Yet, even at the upper retail ceiling of ₦300, the agency’s allocations translate into millions of naira far beyond reasonable pricing.

Analysts argue that this yawning gap between market price and contract cost is a red flag for cost inflation—one that often occurs when contracts are handed to companies with little or no track record in the sector.

Beyond the staggering figures, the development cuts to the bone of Nigeria’s immunization programme. Syringes are indispensable tools in vaccination campaigns, from polio eradication to routine child immunizations. Experts warn that mismanagement in this area could slam the brakes on life-saving public health initiatives.

Procurement guidelines are explicit: contracts must not be awarded to firms without relevant registration or competence. Yet, in this case, both an inactive firm and a cleaning company walked away with plum deals in the name of public health.

Public finance specialists point to weak enforcement of procurement laws as the crack in the system. “When companies are allowed to secure contracts outside their registered scope, suspicion naturally follows, and in the worst cases, projects are abandoned,” one analyst noted.

Observers warn that unless transparency and accountability are put at the driver’s seat, Nigeria’s health sector risks dancing on quicksand—where inflated contracts become the norm, and the lives of citizens hang in the balance.