₦80m Invoice For A ₦40m Car: Coscharis Boss Explains Why Public Officials Use Middlemen To Buy Vehicles

Dr. Cosmas Maduka, Founder and Chairman of Coscharis Group, has explained why some public officials and government bodies allegedly use middlemen to procure vehicles instead of buying directly from official brand distributors.

In a now-viral video clip seen by Autojosh, Maduka claimed that some government vehicle purchases are routed through third parties to facilitate inflated invoices and prices.

Speaking about a former governor of Plateau State, Maduka recalled an instance where he was allegedly asked to inflate the invoice for vehicles supplied by Coscharis Group.

“Let me share the most recent one. Not the current governor of Plateau State, but the one before, wanted us to supply vehicles. And we delivered vehicles. And they wanted me to inflate invoices of vehicles of ₦40 million to write ₦80 million. I told them I don’s do it.”

According to Maduka, he rejected the request despite being warned that refusing could cost his company the business. “I said, ‘Sorry, I don’t do it.’ They said, ‘If you don’t do it, you don’t have business.’ I said, ‘Okay, good luck.’ I left.”

He claimed that the procurement was subsequently routed through another party, who purchased the vehicles from Coscharis at the company’s actual invoice price before allegedly issuing a different, inflated invoice.

“Somebody else had to buy those cars and inflated the invoice. He bought it from us and paid us at our own invoice… and they did it.”

Maduka also claimed that lawmakers sometimes avoid purchasing vehicles directly from official distributors because the distributors would be required to issue invoices reflecting their actual selling prices.

“There are many of them. Have you heard that any senator came to buy a vehicle from us, or House of Assembly members? Even when they bought Range Rovers… but they can’t buy from us, because we will write the amount we sell it for in the invoice.”

He added that some buyers allegedly turn to third parties instead, despite Coscharis being an official representative of several international automotive brands.

“So therefore they can’t buy from us. They have to go through a third party. They even don’t know we are the brand representative, we are the agent. Why would the business not come to us?”

Maduka’s comments have sparked discussion about vehicle procurement by public institutions, particularly the use of intermediaries and the transparency of government spending on official vehicles.

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