The Senate Committee on Finance has summoned the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, his counterpart in the Ministry of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris to appear before it.
Also to appear before the Committee which has Senator Olamilekan Adeola as Chairman is the Managing Director of the Sovereign Investment Authority, Mr Uche Orji.
Senator Adeola said the Committee needed full details on the cost of some federal projects.
Checks revealed that there is an existing tripartite agreement between the Sovereign Investment Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Works.
Some of the projects tagged Legacy Projects include, Lagos – Ibadan Express Way, Second Niger Bridge and Abuja -Kano Expressway.
The Senate summons was a sequel to the disclosure by the Managing Director of the SIA who appeared before the Committee on Tuesday, as he told that the lawmakers that his agency has no details of the cost of some of the projects.
The Chairman Senate Committee of Finance has asked for the initial cost of the Lagos – Ibadan Express road and the current cost as a result of variation but Mr Orji said only the Ministry of Works and Finance could provide the information needed by the senators.
The Managing Director of the Sovereign Investment Authority, however, argued that some of the projects predated his agency.
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He said: “Every day we argue out the issue of variation because any slight change affects my budget because I have a number that I’m working towards. Any change in the scope of work is a problem for us. I can’t answer some of the questions that border on variation and events that took place before I took over. We need to sit down with the active players in the award of the historical contracts preceding our entrance. On the second Niger bridge, so far, half of the money had been disbursed.”
Mr Orji also insisted that his agency would not redeem the outstanding debts arising from the ongoing projects tagged, Legacy Debt.
Senator Adeola gave Honourable Fashola, Zainab Ahmed, Mr Orji and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris and the contractors handling the projects two weeks to appear before his Committee to clear grey areas on an estimate for the various projects, variation and counterpart funding to allay fears that funding was not a hindrance.
He said: “On the issue of funding, by virtue of the information at my disposal and by what the Finance Minister made me understand, is that you are playing critical roles by providing funds for the legacy projects. As of today, two years down the line, only $300m is in the books, this cause for concern.
“We believe that funding is critical to these projects. If the funding is not there, there is no way we can achieve those time frame that you have set out for the completion of the projects.
“On that note, we would be bringing on board, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Works and Housing, the Managing Director of the NSIA, the Accountant General of the Federation, and the contractors who should be invited by the Minister of Works.
“I know there are variations already but we want to know the value and the scope of Works that the variation covers, we want to know it because we don’t have it. That is why we want to know the actual value for the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, for the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and for the second Niger bridge.”
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