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Six companies, one product, six local government areas, and six advances so close in size that the distance between the highest and the lowest is less than 1 percent. Official payment records examined by SecretsReporters show that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, under Minister Joseph Utsev, paid 30 percent advances totalling N1,836,996,009.85 to six companies for the construction of two drip and small micro irrigation systems in each of six local government areas of Kebbi State.
Norton Innovations Services Limited took N307,423,852.90 for Ngaski Local Government Area. Techsave Nigeria Limited took N307,148,410.87 for Danko. Netscape-Web System (Nig) Limited took N306,872,969.12 for Shanga. Centerview Business Concept Limited took N305,661,025.04 for Yauri. Allied Victory Nig. Limited took N305,495,759.71 for Birnin Kebbi. Pinnatech Engineering (Nig) Limited took N304,393,992.21 for Fakai. Five of the advances were paid on one day, 30 October 2025. The sixth, the payment to Allied Victory Nig. Limited, followed on 15 December 2025.
The payment descriptions repeat each other word for word. Each record describes the payment as a 30 percent advance payment to the contractor for the construction of two drip and small micro irrigation systems in the named local government area. Only the company, the local government area and the amount change from record to record, and the amount changes by very little. The highest advance, paid to Norton Innovations Services Limited, is N307,423,852.90. The lowest, paid to Pinnatech Engineering (Nig) Limited, is N304,393,992.21. Six separate companies stand N3,029,860.69 apart.
An advance is the first slice of a contract price, paid ahead of work. Every one of the six payments is recorded as 30 percent of its package, the advance rate now applicable on federal contracts. At 30 percent, each advance prices its full package at about N1.02 billion, and the six packages together carry a full price of about N6.1 billion for twelve drip and small micro irrigation systems, two in each local government area. Each of the six companies collected between N304 million and N307 million of public money as its advance.
The six awards sit in the records as separate contracts, held by six separate companies for six separate local government areas. The competition provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007 require public contract awards to come out of competition among independent bidders, with each bidder pricing its own bid. Across the six awards, the product does not change, two drip and small micro irrigation systems for each area, and the pricing does not move outside the band of less than 1 percent that separates the highest advance from the lowest.
The payment to Allied Victory Nig. Limited carries a voucher number from the same run as the five payments of 30 October 2025. Its voucher is numbered 1001331062. The five October payments carry vouchers numbered between 1001331065 and 1001331104. The December payment was drawn on paperwork numbered ahead of the October payments and was paid six weeks after them.
The six companies are established names on the register of the Corporate Affairs Commission, and all six stand active on it. Netscape-Web System (Nig) Limited, RC 616938, was registered in 2005. Norton Innovations Services Limited, RC 800042, was registered in 2009. Allied Victory Nig. Limited, RC 1227634, was registered in 2014. Centerview Business Concept Limited, RC 1524703, was registered in 2018. Techsave Nigeria Limited, RC 1707033, was registered in 2020. Pinnatech Engineering (Nig) Limited, RC 617127, was incorporated in 2005, and corporate documents obtained by SecretsReporters show Christopher Ndubuisi holding 70 percent of the company.
Utsev has been Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation since 21 August 2023. Every one of the six advances was paid in his tenure, in October and December 2025.
The six Kebbi advances sit inside a wider run of drip irrigation payments in the ministry’s 2025 records. Ahmadeen and Partners received N295,186,508.00 in December 2025 for drip irrigation facilities in selected local government areas of Kaduna State. Xtrax 99 received N58,102,110.47 in December 2025 as full payment on a first certificate for drip irrigation projects at Duku-Lade in Kwara State. The eight payments together come to N2,190,284,628.32. For Ahmadeen and Partners, no registration record was located. For Xtrax 99, no registration record was located.
Source: …Secretsreporters