By Secrets Reporters
Sylvester Nwakuche took over the Nigerian Correctional Service on 15 December 2024. Payment records seen by SecretsReporters show that under his predecessor, Haliru Nababa, the Service made 179 payments worth N4,048,242,328 to companies that returned no record on the register of the Corporate Affairs Commission or stood listed as inactive on it. The payments covered prison rations, uniforms and shoes, and the construction of cell blocks.
The largest recipient returned no record on the CAC portal under any variant of its name. Mosco Soa Nig. Ltd collected N1,253,343,361 across 20 payments between October 2023 and December 2024. On 2 December 2023, the company was paid N83,280,278 for the construction of a 96-bed maximum capacity solid concrete storey cell block at Obubra custodial centre. Three weeks later, it collected N72,760,842 described as Lagos ration for September 2023. Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act 2007 makes registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission one of the conditions a company must meet to qualify for federal contracts.
Amib Rafindadi and Sons Nig Ltd, registered in January 2016 and listed as inactive on the CAC portal, received N576,019,033 in 19 payments in the Nababa period, including N75,434,919 for Lagos ration in 2024 and N73,528,290 for Lagos ration for August 2023. Baggio Brothers and Company, registered as a business name in December 2020 and listed as inactive, collected N475,782,664 in 17 payments. K3G Nigeria Enterprises Ilorin, which returned no record on the CAC portal, was paid N437,046,795 in 15 payments, including N76,890,514 on 31 October 2024 for the supply of uniforms and shoes for personnel and inmates. Blue Trust Construction Ltd, registered in September 2020 and listed as inactive, received N407,645,006 in 20 payments. Ade Atoyebi Nig Ent Ltd, which returned no record on the register, collected N282,087,391 in nine payments.
Forty-three of the payments in the period are described in the records as 2022 liabilities or shortfalls, settled in 2023 and 2024. Ba-Zamfara Global Resources, which returned no record on the CAC register, collected N208,986,859 across nine payments. Fowomaje Heritage Brothers, listed as inactive on the register, collected N191,059,421, including N73,774,466 for Lagos ration for August 2024. Siashekh Global Business Concepts, registered in September 2020 and listed as inactive, received N187,293,565. Pevor Ventures, which returned no record on the CAC register, was paid N157,411,434.
The payments to the same group of companies continued after the handover. Between 15 December 2024 and the end of April 2025, the companies collected another 29 payments worth N1,338,931,958. Across the full period from October 2023 to April 2025, the records list 208 payments worth N5,387,174,286 to companies with no CAC record or an inactive CAC status.
Nababa was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 and retired on 15 December 2024, the day Nwakuche took over. SecretsReporters sought the position of the Nigerian Correctional Service on the payments. The Service had not stated its position at the time of filing.
