Nigerian government is the client of Elbit’s intelligence system

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A Nigerian newspaper claims to have exposed a controversial new agreement between the country’s central government and an Israeli defense electronics company.

The international business times is quoting the Nigerian press and says that many details remain hazy, and the report is unconfirmed by both the administration and the company. But if the allegations are true, Nigeria is working towards the implementation of a new national intelligence and surveillance system, and concerned citizens worry that their constitutional rights could be at risk.

The report apperated in the Premium Times, which is based in the capital city of Abuja. It followed a Wednesday press release from Elbit Systems announcing that the company had been awarded a contract worth about $40 million to “supply a country in Africa with the Wise Intelligence Technology (WiT) System for Intelligence Analysis and Cyber Defense,” adding that the system would be “supplied within two years.”

The Premium Times cited anonymous “multiple and very reliable sources in the administration” of President Goodluck Jonathan as saying that Nigeria was in fact the unnamed country in the press release.

“Our sources say the contract will now help the Jonathan administration access all computers and read all email correspondences of citizens in what is clearly an infringement on constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression,” noted the article.

On Monday, an Elbit spokesperson said that the company was aware of the reports but refused to comment on their accuracy. Nigerian officials did not respond to requests for elucidation.

While silence reigns on both sides of the alleged deal, debates have raged over the accuracy of the report and the true scope of the capabilities of the system. Some argue that the technology could be useful to combat terrorism, corruption and cybercrime; others worry that Abuja could use the system to clamp down on the freedoms of law-abiding citizens.

Those citizens have plenty of reasons to mistrust the central government. Modern Nigeria’s democratic system is still young; the country suffered decades of instability under a series of autocratic military rulers until 1999. Still today, a whopping 94 percent of citizens say corruption is widespread, according to a Gallup poll conducted last year.

.Elbit announced the contract award Wednesday in a global press release but was silent on the Nigerian destination of the contract. Its general manager, Yehuda Vered, opaquely announced that “Elbit Systems will supply its Wise Intelligence Technology (WiT) system to an unnamed country in Africa under a new $40 million contract announced on 24 April… for Intelligence Analysis and Cyber Defense,” but effusively claimed, in the statement, that his company is “proud to be selected to supply this unique system, which is already field-proven, fully operational and customisable.

Multiple and very reliable sources in the administration confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that Nigeria is indeed the “unnamed African country,” and with details from the Elbit statement, our sources say the contract will now help the Jonathan administration access all computers and read all email correspondences of citizens in what is clearly, an infringement on constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression.

Elbit says it will take it two years to complete the project, by which time it claimed, the administration will have “a highly advanced end-to-end solution, [to] supports every stage of the intelligence process, including the collection of the data from multiple sources, databases and sensors, processing of the information, supporting intelligence personnel in the analysis and evaluation of the information and disseminating the intelligence to the intended recipient…[that] will be integrated with various data sources, including Elbit Systems’ Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) solution and Elbit Systems’ PC Surveillance Systems (PSS), an advance solution for covert intelligence gathering.”

The administration had indicated in the 2013 budget that it would procure a Wise Intelligence Network Harvest Analyzer System, Open Source Internet Monitoring System and Personal Internet Surveillance System at a cost of N9.496 Billion ($61.26 million).

Now that the contract has been awarded to Elbit for about  $40million, it is unclear if the National Assembly will raise questions as to what becomes of the extra $21million earmarked for the project.

The Nigerian daily claims that investigations indicate that in awarding the contract to the Israeli firm, no tenders or calls for bids were made just as there were no public announcements. The contract was awarded following a proposal from a single vendor who dictated the contract sum and the terms of the contract.