How firms drafted power project contracts, by Due Process boss, Labour, Umar condemn scandal

Written by Administrator

MEMBERS of the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel yesterday heard of more under-hand dealings in the awards and payments for the controversial power projects initiated by the last administration. The panel probing expenditures in the crisis-ridden energy sector by the Olusegun Obasanjo government was told by the Bureau of Public Procurement that against established public service rules, the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel allowed contractors free reign in the drafting of the agreements of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) contracts.

The Director-General of the Bureau (also known as Due Process Office), Emeka Eze, told the panel yesterday in Abuja that the problem with the NIPP was that most of the agreements were in favour of the contractors, who were mostly foreign firms.

Eze put the actual payments authorised by his office for the entire power sector from 2003 to 2008 at N195.6 billion, Euros 24 million and $238 billion.

According to Eze, "the major problem with the NIPP projects is that the ministry allowed the contractors to draft the agreements and they favour the contractors."

To buttress his position, Eze cited a contract awarded by the Power and Steel Ministry, which agreement had been drafted and "somewhere along the line, the ministry wanted to make amendment but the Due Process Office discovered that there was no provision for such in the agreement."

At yesterday's session, the panel's chairman, Ndudi Elumelu, said that he had been receiving warnings from some quarters on the activities of the committee.

And following the disclosure by the House panel that some firms that benefited from the contracts were not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the affected firms have lodged complaints with the committee.

Elumelu said since the revelation was made, some of the firms had been asking him questions. He said that he was not the author of the list of the companies and therefore, all enquiries should be forwarded to the CAC from where the list originated.

The chairman, who was forced by the situation to make announcements two times with explanation from some of the members of the panel, reiterated that no amount of pressure would deter the panel from carrying its work to a logical conclusion.

"A former senator has just come to me to complain about the names of companies that we said were not registered with CAC and I have told him to go about it the way he should and that is by going to CAC to find out from them. We asked for this and the commission gave it to us. This goes for other companies that have been adjudged not to have been registered with the CAC. They should all go for clearance and if the CAC clears them, we will announce that here too. However, the clearance letter must indicate the date of registration," Elumelu said.

The lawmaker also said that since the Monday sitting of the panel where Governors Liyel Imoke of Cross River State and Segun Agagu (Ondo State) appeared before it, he had received a letter warning him against bias. He said that the writer of the letter alleged that the committee subjected Agagu to a rigorous interrogation.

Elumelu also explained that the panel was not against any person but was merely carrying out the mandate given to it.

"I got a letter warning that we should avoid tribal sentiments because Agagu was asked more questions. We are all Nigerians and let me say it again that we are out to do justice to all sides. We are not serving any other interest than the collective interest of Nigerians and that we shall pursue throughout our assignment," he said.

Earlier, Eze had called for the prosecution of those found by the panel to have abused due process in the handling of projects in the power sector within the period under review.

He said if the panel's claim that some persons or corporate bodies collected money for contracts and failed to execute them was established, such people or outfits should be prosecuted in accordance with the law.

The bureau boss said he did not approve any payment for the NIPPs because it was not entirely a Federal Government's venture. He added that they were being funded by the three tiers of government from the excess crude oil account.

The director-general insisted that Due Process Office would not need the rules for payment for contracts because doing so would amount to going back to business as usual.

"We will continue to insist that the right thing be done and we will not succumb to pressure. If a company does not comply with the conditions for any contract, the full weight of the law should be brought to bear. Contractors usually give guarantees and when they fail, you ask the banks to give you your money,' he said.

To the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), there will be no safe haven for those that may be indicted by the probe panel.

Its General Secretary, John Odah in Abuja yesterday, said the NLC would mobilise Nigerians to oppose any attempt to sweep the findings of the committee under the carpet.

Labour lauded the Lower House for the initiative, saying: "We assure the committee and the House of the total support of Nigerian workers for their ongoing effort. Congress is committed to mobilising Nigerians if necessary to ensure that these matters are not swept under the carpet as had been the tradition."

Odah said that the public hearing had afforded Nigerians an opportunity to peep into how the nation's resources had been administered in the past eight years.

He said: "NLC commends the House of Representatives for organising the on-going public hearing on the power sector. The hearing has afforded Nigerians useful insight into the depth of the crisis of governance and leadership irresponsibility that characterised the power sector since 1999."

The NLC said it was shocked by the lack of accurate data to show how much had been spent on the revival of the sector.

"It is bad enough that so much billions of dollars were expended on the power sector; it is even worse that no one can say with any degree of certainty how much had been squandered. This is the result of clear setting aside of due process, the widespread use of fronts and disreputable contractors and other severe governance deficits. However, what has been established even at this point is that the nation has been ripped off of billions of dollars while it continues to endure the tragedy of near-zero power supply," Odah lamented.

Also, former military Governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd), has said that the current probe of the energy sector has lend support to his agitation for the investigation of Obasanjo's administration.

In an interview with journalists yesterday in Kaduna, Umar said that the revelations on the scandalous level of waste and corruption in the energy sector by the previous administration was condemnable, stressing that those responsible must be brought to book if Nigeria must move forward democratically.

"Nigerians must commend the work of the committee probing the energy sector, particularly its chairman. These are people who are ready to ensure that corruption is wiped out in the nation. We must stand behind all efforts to wipe out corruption in the country," he said.

Umar continued: "I understand that the former President has threatened to take me to court over my recent statements in which I addressed the corruption perpetrated by his administration. I am waiting for him."

He said that "by the time the committee probing the energy sector moves to the aviation and other sectors of the economy, you will see that the government of Obasanjo has done a great de-service to the nation.

"What we have seen so far on the revelation of the committee of the National Assembly probing the energy sector is a child's play, more revelations are bound to come out and will definitely come out if they move into other sectors of the economy, I bet you."

The panel also heard of the reasons for the delay in the take-off of the Afam VICCGT 642 megawatts power plant.

The inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to the Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mutiu Summonu, to contribute about $577 million counterpart funds had stalled the project, which on completion, would contribute 20 per cent to the national grid.

He said the action of the NNPC had allowed the project to suffer several setbacks as a result of which new avenues of funding were being worked out, adding that about $1.05 billion and $392 million were still required from now till 2009 to complete the plant.

The Shell boss said the firm was working on Afam V1 642 MW CCT as well as the new high voltage switch yard on a long-term service agreement with the Federal Government.