INTERVIEW: Owner of Pure Biotech Company Makurdi Revealed

 

 

SPECULATIONS and suspicion abound regarding the ownership of a Pure Biotech Company Ltd situated in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. Most people suspect the State Governor, Samuel Ortom, of owning the company even as politicians are not supposed to venture into businesses of such magnitude.

In this interview last week with Amos Aar of SkyNews, Sule Akaha of Real Newsline, Tamenor Kwaghzer of News Echo and Denen Achussah of ThisWeek, the Corporate Communications Manager of the Company, Mr Stephen Numbeve, reveals the authentic owner of the Pure Biotech Company. He also speaks on burning issues bordering on multiple taxation, benefits of the company to Benue people and many other salient issues.

Press:
May we first of all meet you for the purpose of the general public sir.m

Numbeve:
Thank you very much. I’m Mr Stephen Numbeve, Head of Corporate Communications/Public Relations Manager, Pure Biotech Limited located at Angbaaye km18, Makurdi-Gboko road.

Press:
Your company has started operations in the state for months now. Benue people would want to know how far you have gone. Have you started production? What is in there for the Benue man?

Numbeve:
Thank very much. As Matter of fact, let me state that we started and concluded the purchase of the land on 15th of January, 2020 and we started clearing the land on the 15th of January 2021 and shortly after the clearing, the construction commenced. We did the construction, we did the installation of machines and the test running machines commenced on the 1st of April, 2022 and we went into real time business. This last quarter of the year, we are into full-blown production of ethanol.

Corporate Communications Manager & Public Relations Officer, Pure Biotech Company Ltd Makurdi, Stephen Numbeve, during the interview

Press:
Sir, may we know if your product is already in the market.

Numbeve:
Yes, like I said, we started production on the 1st, the test running was production pure on the first of April, 2022 and we have gone into full time production and our product is in the market. Maybe because the product is unique, that’s why the Benue people may not know that it is in the market.

Press:
Ok, can you break it down ?

Numbeve
I will break it down. The fact remains that our major product is called ethanol and ethanol is a chemical compound that is used basically by pharmacists in production of medicine and it is also used by beverage companies in the production of alcohol. So it’s not a direct material that one can just access and buy and use. So, pharmaceutical companies, alcoholic beverage companies are the people that patronize us. So you may not know that we are in the market but we are right there in the market.

Press:
How do Benue people stand to benefit from this company apart from taking their casava there?

Numbeve:
Yes, several ways. The Benue man has several ways to benefit from this company. One, we have given a lot of jobs to people, direct and indirect job opportunities have been created for the Benue person. The number of Benue people that are working within the facility amounts our 80% of the people working in that factory. That one good thing the company has done and the people supplying to us are mostly from Benue and few other people out there are also supplying to us. The farmers are also benefiting us. So indirect and directly, the Benue people are enjoying this company and again, the taxes and what have you that the company is paying will also boost the revenue generation of the state. So in all facets of it, Benue people are going to enjoy the economy in the little it’s going to contribute to the economic of the state. I wish to also say that there is another way Benue people are benefiting from the company. Most or some of the people that are working there are foreigners and as they come in, they brought in a lot of finances. So the irony of the whole thing is that the economy of Benue has certainly improved because of the siting of this company here.

Press:
Okay, what of the corporate social responsibility of the company?

Numbeve:
Yes, that’s another wing to it. The social corporate responsibility is another way to the benefit. We have our corporate social responsibility which amounts to sinking of boreholes within the community, provision of school, clinic and stuff like that.

Press:
Have you started any of them?

Numbeve:
If you look at the laws of the land, the laws have given a window to companies to operate within at least three years before they do that. However, our company has started doing this already. We have sunk one borehole for the community already and I can remember that somewhere in October, when there was flooding, the company bought food items and other substances and gave to the company by way of assisting them for the flooding and you know, the area that we sited the company was an area that was almost affected by crisis and stuff like that. So we provided food for them. That’s another way the Benue man is enjoying from the company.

Press:
Sir, can you approve or disprove this rumor that one of the products of the company is indomie? There are speculations like that around town.

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Numbeve:
The company is not producing indomie, we are not into indomie production. Our core product is ethanol.

Press:
What of the byproduct?

Numbeve:
Well, the byproduct is not very pronounced. Not pronounced in the sense that we are doing that basically for our own consumption. The byproduct is that of biogas and we are using that to power our own generators. So the main product of that company is ethanol which is available for the markets.

Press:
What is the method of supply to the company? If I want to supply to the company, what do I do?

Numbeve:
If you want to supply to the company, there are no bottlenecks in the supply. You are not going to fill any form. Yours is to drive straight to the company and as you get to the company, the company’s line is on the gate, you just send the truck number and your bank details to the officer there and that’s simple. You have access to the company, supply and you are paid.

Press:
Sir this is in direct contrast to what you told us on a radio program when you were creating awareness about this company. You said people must be registered as suppliers to the company first before they can supply.

Numbeve:
Yes, when we started, we told people to get themselves registered. But 98% of people that registered with us didn’t bring any product. So we were getting products from people that didn’t register with us but we needed the product. So as matter of policy, the company brushed aside the earlier plan of having people register before supply. The only criteria for you to be registered is for you to bring your product. When you bring cassava for us, you are registered as a supplier, simple.

Press:
What has the company done to checkmate activities of fraudsters at the gate because the process you are talking about here creates room for some people who are evil-minded to cash in in the process of someone trying to get across to the contact person at the gate.

Numbeve:
Well, I can categorically state that there are no fraudsters and there will never be any fraudsters at the gate because the contacts are written boldly on the gate for you to access and send your information to the supply chain manager. Again, we have our search pin placed at that gate. So whatever that is happening there is viewed directly. So I assure you that there can be no fraudster around that gate, not at all.

Press:
Our people rely on wet season farming. Are you planning to have your own cassava farm? Are you planning to supply your own variety of casava?

Numbeve:
We don’t have any specific variety of cassava that we intend to use. The only specie we don’t so much like is that of vitamin A. Aside that specie, every other specie of cassava is allowed. As such, we don’t intend to go into farming this cassava, we don’t intend to go into giving any particular specie to anybody. We intend to just buy directly what our farmers have for us. Unless, until otherwise, if we are getting the products in a very reasonable quantity like we are getting now, we may not go into farming. We will leave that for the local farmers to make money.

Press:
But would you say you are getting what you actually want ?

Numbeve:
At the moment, I will say yes.

Press:
May we know who is behind Pure Biotech company

Numbeve:
Let me understand what you mean by behind Pure Biotech.

Press:
The owners of the company.

Numbeve:
Yes, That is a wonderful question. There are a lot of speculations about the ownership of the company. I have taken a very good time to throw light on the owner of the company, Pure Biotech. Let me start by saying that the company as it is, I bought land for that company through my company “Tartor Hemba Enterprise”. I was with my friend Mr Asor Mato, we jointly did that together, we negotiated and we bought the land. There were crises in that area, everything was burnt down and destroyed. We had to source those people from their own places: some from Guma, some from Vandeikya, in Makurdi here some from Coca-Cola. We searched for those people who were owners of the land and negotiated with them and they accepted to give us the land and our partners now came in to develop. This is Purely a Chinese company that came in to invest. At first, they were looking for a place to invest either Nasarawa, Benue or Taraba. We went into negotiations and told them the benefits of placing the company here in Benue and they were satisfied that Benue was most preferred for this because centrally, Benue is there and the highest producer of cassava is Benue, they wanted the company sited very close to a river and we have a river here in Benue. So in all ramifications, we met the requirements for this. So we wooed them to this place, they accepted this land, they picked the land and they brought the company here. So this is a Chinese company, they have one here, they have some companies in Kogi state; you can talk of Shiramics in Kogi state, it is the same sister company, they have unicane in Kogi. They do the same Ethanol, they have another one in Ondo, Ore, it’s the same thing and their presence is now in Kano where they have gone to Kano to put in place a Shiramics company in Kano, they are in Delta working on oil. It’s a group so it’s owned by Chinese, they are the brain behind this company, no other person except this group. So this one is Pure Biotech. They have another company called Witec, they are also here in the state, we are working on something that’s private for now until it finally comes out, I will put it to you.

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Because of the presence of pure Biotech, let me hint you, that a lot of Chinese are visiting Benue because the recommendation given them by those people here in pure Biotech is awesome! So most then want to shift their base to Benue and in a short while, they will contact the Government so they can invest more.

Press:
Does this Chinese company have any relation with the other Chinese company that is buying cassava in Zaki-Biam?

Numbeve:
No, no, no. The only link they have is that those people are Chinese and these people too are Chinese. There is no bond, they are different companies entirely.

Press:
If I take my cassava to the company supply, it stays there for 24 hours and it gets rotten, will you still accept it?

Numbeve:
The good news is that your cassava cannot stay there for 12 hours because we have a lot of off-loaders on ground. We have given jobs to people and over 80 persons are on ground offloading cassava simultaneously. So there’s no way cassava will stay there for over 12 hours.

Press:
I have seen where because the nature of our roads, or even vehicles breaking down, their cassava stays on the road. If it gets rotten, is there anything to be done about it?

Numbeve:
Yes, if your cassava is totally rotten, there is something called bad business. We advise our customers to always ensure that within three days, they take their cassava to the factory. But if at the expiration of three days you are still somewhere, it cannot just get rotten easily. It has to be up to a we or even more. That’s when it gets rotten. But if the situation is not too bad, we will renegotiate the price with you but if it is rotten absolutely, then there’s nothing we can do about it. Since we started production, we have not encountered anything of such anyway.

Press:
Can you give us insight into the range of prices of this cassava the way you buy it?

Numbeve:
I’m going to give prices at the moment. As we speak, if you avail your fresh cassava to to the company and it is below ten tons, we pay N32,000 per ton and if it’s above ten ton, we pay N38,000 per ton. For the dry cassava, if it is below ten ton, we pay N130, 000 per ton and if it is above ten ton, we pay N150,000 per ton. There is another wing to it, the dry chips, there are peeled and unpeeled, the prices are even used for peeled, unpeeled dried chips, the price is N130,000 per ton flat.

Press:
So what does the company prefer? Is it the unpeeled cassava?

Numbeve:
We prefer everything.

Press:
What makes business favourable is the environment. What is Government’s cooperation?

Numbeve:
Well, I can give Government cooperation a pass mark. They have cooperated with us. At first when we came in, the Government made it clear that they were not aware of our coming on board and even though I think to some extent I have done the needful of informing appropriately, the message did not sink to His Excellency the Governor Benue State. So he was bitter at first but when he came to see the volume of work that will be done, he accepted us, he has been working with us, he doesn’t want anything that will affect the company.

Press:
The department of the state government that handles tasks has been having challenges with companies especially of that your magnitude. How friendly is tax related issues to you and how compliant are you? How much quantity of tax do you pay?

Numbeve:
The issue of tax as you rightly pointed out is a very sensitive and very bitter issue here in Benue because one, our suppliers that supply to us are complaining about a lot of issues where their vehicles are seriously taxed. Let me give you example, those people that buy cassava from Nasarawa state, I want this to be placed on record, people that buy cassava from Nasarawa state, a full truck of cassava in Nasarawa state is N5000 per truck while here in Benue is N52,000 per truck. So if buy in Nasarawa,you pay N5000 and you drive to Benue, as soon as you enter Benue, you are going to pay the Benue tax of N52,000. So you see that there is a very serious contrast between N5000 and N52,000 and this is a very big challenge. That is one aspect of that. Then as a company, when we came in, the Governor made us to understand that he was going to give us a waiver. So verbally, we requested for a 3-year waiver and he agreed verbally. So we wrote to him to normalize what he had agreed with us. But at the end of the day, the response that came for us was referring us to the federal government that taxes that have to do with companies of such majorly come from the Federal Government. But shortly after that, we started receiving state taxes and I had to write the Board of Internal Revenue, requesting to know whether the approval to us by his Excellency was a mere approval. What I’m saying is that we have requests on our table to make payment for some taxes. We have written them, there is a conversation between them and us. We are trying to let them understand that we were given a waiver and they are requesting. So let them be clear on which we are paying and what we are not paying. So that is where we are.

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If you go round the state, you will notice that most of these revenue drivers when they get to interior, they can charge you any amount. I’m saying this because I also supply. When I went to Jato-Aka, they told me that a truck is N102,000, that I should pay as tax. I’m saying this because I am a direct victim, I know it.

Press:
If I’m to pay 102,000, as tax, how much will I get if I supply?

Numbeve:
That is the question because at times if you supply this, just like cement, if you supply a truckload of cement, at times you get N50,000 to N60,000, that’s your profit. So if you are made to get N40,000 or N50,000 from the same truck and they are collecting a hundred and something thousand naira on your head, obviously a lot of people have been pushed out of it because of taxes. Taxes collect what they are supposed to get at the end of the day and you see, these taxes are in several folds. At the end of it all, if you are supplying with your own company, you are still going to pay taxes at the end of the day, company tax. So the issue of taxes needs to be looked at with eagle eye. If that is not done, a lot of people will run out of business.

I want to also be placed on record on this issue of taxes, that company tax or personal income tax here in Benue is around N200,000 to N300,000. If you go to Nasarawa, it is between N40-60,000. Now, check your records, the people that were contesting elections here in Benue in 2022, the primaries, needed to pay tax but most of them paid in Nasarawa because if you want to pay in Nasarawa, they will tell you N40,000, when you come to Benue, they will tell you N200,000. So if you are the one, won’t you run to Nasarawa to pay your tax? The State was denied these taxes and Nasarawa state enjoyed it. Who gained?

Press:
Apart from the tax challenge, any other challenge?

Numbeve:
Yes, a very big organization like that cannot operate without challenges. We have several challenges and those challenges we work to surmount them. Number one is the issue of insecurity. You know they are singing insecurity everywhere in the country and everybody is scared. So that has increased the cost of the company, trying to secure the place in a manner that is securable for workers to stay there safely. It makes our running cost bogus. One other challenge we had that we are working on very fast is the cost of diesel. At a point, we stopped production because the diesel cost went too high. Of course they have helped us because we quickly went to production of biogas. So in a way they have like helped us to have our alternative but it is a challenge to us. The quality of roads also affect us because the goods that would have got us on time don’t get to us on time.

Press:
Ok, there was this time they said the Government of Benue State has closed down the company. Maybe that was when you closed production because of these challenges.

Numbeve:
No, there was a time the Government closed down because they told us that they were not aware of our [coverage]. So they closed the factory for like 2 days, then we were under construction. But the Governor visited the place himself, saw what we were doing and we gave explanations why they were not aware.

Press:
What about your relationship with the host community?

Numbeve:
Very cordial.

Press:
Thank you very much sir.

Numbeve:
You are welcome.

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