Reps to probe power assets sale by Jonathan

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution to probe the railway rehabilitation and modernisation contracts awarded by the Federal Government between 2010 and 2014.

It also resolved to review some aspects of the power sector privatisation.

An ad hoc committee is to conduct the investigation with a mandate to summon officials of the Federal Ministry of Transport, the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme.

All the contractors involved in railway projects in the country since 2010 are also to answer questions.

A House member from Delta State, Mr. Solomon Ahwinahwi, while moving a motion on the subject, recalled that “billions of naira” had been spent by the government on the railway projects.

For example, he told his colleagues that SURE-P alone had provided funding amounting to N18.7bn “since taking over the funding of capital projects.”

Giving details of the projects, Ahwinahwi spoke further, “The level of performance with respect to the 463km Port Harcourt – Markurdi rail track rehabilitation of the eastern line with the total sum of N19, 963, 752, 330 and out of which the Nigerian Railway Corporation has paid N4, 017, 054, 841 while SURE-P paid N5,594,021,377 and only about three kilometres of ballast has been done with 400km left undone and the total money released so far is N9,611,076,218.

“The Abuja-Kaduna rail project had $841m as the project cost, out of which the China EXIM Bank provided a loan of $500m with about 25 per cent of the project completed, when the entire project was envisaged to have been completed in 2014.”

On the Lagos-Jebba track rehabilitation project, he recalled that it was awarded for N12.2bn out which N11.6bn had been paid.

However, Ahwinahwi observed that “no tangible work” had been done on the project.

The motion was passed in a unanimous voice vote at the session, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.

In a separate resolution, the House queried some “aspects” of the privatisation of the power sector by the government.

It particularly noted that there was “apparent lack of due process in the alleged payment of $23m on the contract awarded to Manitoba Hydro International of Canada to manage the Transmission Company of Nigeria.”

According to the House, there was an urgent need to find out whether the Bureau of Public Procurement Enterprises complied with the guidelines for privatisation in the sale of some power assets.

The motion on the sale of the power assets was moved by a member from Imo State, Mr. Chike Okafor.

It also received unanimous backing by members.