• As panel vows to expose perpetrators of the scam
FINANCE Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, her Transport counterpart , Hon Rotimi Amaechi, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, ex-bosses of SURE-P Gen Martin Agwai (Rtd), Dr Christopher Kolade and several others on Tuesday shunned the House of Representatives ad hoc-committee probing the alleged over N1trillion failed rail contracts
The affected personalities were summoned by the Hon Ehiozuwa Agbaonayinma led ad hoc-committee on failed rail contracts between 2010 and 2014 to appear before it yesterday to explain their roles in the contracts scam
Others who also failed to appear before the committee without representation for their absence include the Accountant General of the Federation, the Auditor General of the Federation, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Engr Adeseyi Sijuwade former MD, NRC, Alhaji .Yusuf Suleiman former Minister of Transportation
Expressing displeasure over the absence of the key actors in the failed rail contracts in which tax payers’ money running to over N1trillion went down the drain, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon Agbaonayinma, vowed that all the characters in the shoddy rail contract deals between 2010-2014 would be exposed in due course.
According to him, “in spite of challenges faced by the committee, we are determined to fulfill the mandate given to the committee, Nigerians must know how their money was spent in the rail sector, I make bold to say that anyone found wanting will be exposed.
At yesterday’s session, the Committee queried the representatives of the defunct SURE-P on how the over N77bn allocated to it for rail projects was disbursed to contractors involved in all the rail projects.
In his defence, the convener of the defunct presidential committee on rail under SURE-P, Mr Sam Ohuanbuwa, stated that the whole amount received and disbursed by the committee was N73.08bn not N77bn as being claimed
According to him, “I’m proud to say that we carried out all our assignments well as we verified all payments and projects nationwide before the actual were made to the contractors.
He told the panel that the defunct SURE-P was not party to the award of railway contracts as all the contracts were awarded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Federal Executive Council, adding that a total sum of N73 billion was expended on various railway projects between June 2012 to march 2014 when the tenure of the intervention outfit came to an abrupt end.
Shedding light on the expenditure, he disclosed that of the N32 billion budgeted in 2012, the sum of N11. 8 billion was spent to rehabilitate the railways in the country. Pointing out those details of the payment receipts were domiciled on the budget office.
He also explained further that the sum of N27 billion out of N77.2 billion budgeted in 2013 was expended, in addition to the sum of N34 billion out of the budgeted N43 billion spent in 2014.
According to him, “we believed that every kobo spent during the period of our stewardship was verified by us and we ensured that the work was done relying on our experts in the project implementation unit (PIU). We feel proud that we were able to be part of SURE-P to support our country.”
He made reference to milestone recorded in the rehabilitation work on the western rail line stretching from Lagos -Kano, the eastern rail line from Port Harcourt-Gombe-Maiduguri, the Abuja -Kaduna standard gauge rail line, Makurdi -Kafanchan rail line, and the Abuja rail mass transit scheme to buttress his assertions .
According to him, “we organised ourselves and faithfully disbursed the monies accordingly to specific contractors as directed by the ministry. We went round to the field to verify item by item based on what is supposed to be done and if we are satisfied we authorise the chairman to make payments to such contractors
Speaking further, he said that “SURE-P never kept any bank account rather all the payments were effected through the federation account and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). We never awarded any contract as most of the contracts were on-going even before SURE-P was created.”
Ohunbuawa’s predecessor, Dr Chike Okongwu, corroborated the position of his successor, saying “I’m proud to have served in that committee because we went the extra mile to make sure due process was followed.
Also the Director in charge of Public Implementation Unit (IPU), Eric Oyinwenu, supported the positions of both conveners of the presidential committee.
The committee however directed Ohuanbuwa to submit a compendium of the committee’s hand over note to it which would assist it in the course of the investigation.
and then