‘We recovered over N1.2bn Naira for government last year’

What do auctioneers do? Auctioneers are middle men between buyers and sellers; they handle the buying of all unserviceable items that have zero value, as a result of technical deformity, age and whatever. Those items are classified as items to be handled by auctioneers. Do auctioneers just go to government and say give us or […]

What do auctioneers do?
Auctioneers are middle men between buyers and sellers; they handle the buying of all unserviceable items that have zero value, as a result of technical deformity, age and whatever. Those items are classified as items to be handled by auctioneers.

Do auctioneers just go to government and say give us or does the government invite you?
No government is supposed to put an expression of interest inviting auctioneers and when they are invited, they make sure that auctioneers have the relevant documents as guided by the Bureau of Public Procurement because an auctioneer must have a limited liability company, must register with the national body of NAA and must have tax clearance as well as meeting other requirements.

Do auctioneers compete among themselves?
Yes, auctioneers compete amongst selves because there are some people that can handle small matters while others handle big matters.

You mean auctioneers are of different categories?
Yes, we are even handling online auction we are building a platform to ensure that things work both within and outside the country.

Your association has kicked against secret bidding; why?
Government should be selling all unserviceable items by open competitive bidding; that way there will be transparency and accountability and no item will be sold under declared when disposing of. People will know the limit of items sold. The auctioneer procures the services of police to monitor the disposal, we have the tax force to ensure that government is not cheated and we ensure that all people from far and near come to the auction for competitive bidding and government realizes its revenue.

Has government been following due process in disposing of its assets?
The BPP Act applies to the federal, state and local government; people should be aware that it affects all tiers of government. On this note we give credit to Bauchi, Gombe and Osun state governments for complying by employing the services of auctioneers. Those who do not comply violate Bureau of Public Procurement Act and there is a penalty for that.

The military, police and other paramilitary agencies auction assets from time to time; do they comply with the laws?
The military and the police respect the procedures of disposal. They involve auctioneers in disposal but there are some institutions that do not engage our members in disposal of public assets.

You mention the Nigerian Customs Service recently as not complying?
That one is not in order. It shouldn’t be like that; you cannot be a judge in your own case.

Have you taken any auction on that?
Currently, we are in court and we are waiting for the court judgment. I can’t comment on that for now.

What are the greatest challenges auctioneers face?
Some of the institutions don’t know the implication of engaging those who are not registered auctioneers; if you are not registered as an auctioneer, you cannot practise auctioneering. You have to be a registered member so that government and national body of NAA will have control.Anybody who is an auctioneer who does not belong to NAA, it is always difficult to help government if matters arise. We have a tax force and we are appealing to government to allow all our tax force to work for the benefit of the government and benefit of institutions where items are auctioned

So you have people that are parading themselves as auctioneers?
Yes they are going here and there and some civil servants collect receipt from those who are not auctioneers and say “sell and issue receipts” but anything that has to do with receipt must come from a genuine auctioneer and you know an auctioneer doesn’t release his receipt to any civil servant.
Are you saying that there is collusion between the civil servants and the auctioneers?
Yes some of them.

Have you spoken to civil servants about it?
We have been making public announcements for the people to understand. It will save their own work and protect the interests of government.

You have appealed to state governors severally to use auctioneers in disposing their assets; have they heeded your call?
We met the Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, he initially said he did not intend to sell the state’s unserviceable items by auction because he doesn’t know how the matter will go in order not to tarnish his image. However, he has promised to work with the NAA in disposing of scrap and unserviceable items in his state. We are also appealing to other state governors to work with NAA for disposal of all the scraps within their state because the items are depreciating and government is not benefiting. Many are vandalized and some are stolen because they are long neglected, they are supposed to be auctioned to the general public.

How do you handle cases where the highest bidder does not bid up to the benchmark?
The price of auction sales is always a secret between the auctioneer and the owner of the items; they are supposed to keep it secret within themselves and it will be a guideline of where to start but at the instance where the price is not reached, they will revert to the authority.

Has it happened before?
Yes.

What are the requirements for being an auctioneer?
The person should put up an application at the national body where we verify it and give guideline on what is expected of him or her. The person must belong to one of the 36 state chapters so that if there is anything we can refer him or her to that state and the person must apply from the state.

Can you give the monetary value of items waiting to be auctioned within Nigeria?
You see, since I resumed office as president of NAA, I have not seen the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and big institutions of that nature selling. They are supposed to be selling. Quicker action must be taken in ensuring that their old and unserviceable items are disposed of instead of wasting time. Some others may say there is a court matter with regards to items seized either from bunkering or as exhibits but the estimate of items may be more than N1 trillion and if auctioneers are assigned to sell those items, the federal, state and local governments will benefit.

Up to a trillion Naira?
You remember things were seized from some people by the EFCC and the ICPC. Some items are with the banks, with AMCON, even ships and containers everywhere. They are worth over N1 trillion and they should not be allowed to waste away. My members are ready to work with the Federal Government towards the disposal of these items to generate revenue to build the economy of the nation.

Is debt recovery part of your activities?
Yes it is. We do it. Only a professional auctioneer can do it. When I became president I had to engage the service of consultants and technical advisers to ensure that our members are well educated in the auctioneer industry.

Do you work with AMCON in debt recovery?
Yes I work with AMCON. I recovered over N1.2 billion last year and currently handling case of Bank of Industry worth over N150 million.