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Tag: Senate panel

  • N30tr Ways, Means probe not ‘dead’, says Senate panel

    N30tr Ways, Means probe not ‘dead’, says Senate panel

    The Senate Ad-hoc Committee probing the  N30trillion Ways and Means Advances facility granted the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday denied that the exercise has been abandoned.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Isah Jibrin (APC  – Kogi East), made this assertion in a statement in Abuja while reacting to an online report which alleged that  the investigation is in limbo.

    The Ad-hoc Committee Chairman in the rebuttal, attached a letter of reminder it wrote the Accountant General for the Federation requesting for further vital information to assist the panel’s investigative activities.

    Senator Jibrin, who doubles as Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs and Excise Duties, explained though the Ad-hoc Committee was given six weeks to carry out the exercise and report back to the Senate during its inauguration in March but  the need for carry out a thorough exercise  had made the committee to exceed the time.

    Read Also: NASS’ll not recommend seizure of State, council funds over minimum wage – Senate

    “The essence of an investigation is to come up with factual findings and not just roll in report within specified time frame.

    “Investigation on the N30trillion Ways and Means, is on course and not in anyway, in limbo,

    as insinuated by an online platform today.

    “Some of the required findings have been made and still being made as clearly shown by a letter of reminder  recently written to the office of Accountant General of the Federation,” he said.

    The letter dated 19th June, 2024 by Senator Isah Jibrin and titled: “Request for Submission of Additional Information” reads: “You may recall our earlier letter on the above subject dated 27th May, 2024, requesting for the following additional information on Ways and Means, which you are yet to respond to.

    “The required information are: Details of disbursements under Ways and Means, Names of the beneficiaries, Amount/date of disbursements, purpose of the disbursements, terms of the disbursement (where applicable), repayment schedule (where applicable) and adherence to the repayment schedule.”

    Ways and Means is a loan facility through which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), finances the Federal Government’s budget shortfalls.

    This type of loans usually result in macroeconomic instability, leading to inflation and high exchange rates because of the excess liquidity injected into the economy.

    The CBN Act limits advances under ways and means to five per cent of the previous year’s revenue, but this has been mostly breached over the years.

    As a way of remedying the situation, the CBN Governor,  Yemi Cardoso, declared in February the apex bank would no longer grant Ways and Means Advances to the Federal Government “until all outstanding debts are refunded.”

  • Senate panel alleges ‘monumental fraud’ in NAHCON operations

    THE Senate ad-hoc Committee on Operations of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) said yesterday it uncovered what it described as “monumental fraud” in the commission’s operations.

    The committee, in a 34-page report submitted to the Senate in plenary, said the commission held a wrong perception that funds held in trust for the Hajj pilgrims were not owned by it and by extension the Federal Government.

    The committee alleged that procurement processes in respect of the said monies were not subject to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

    The report, entitled: “Ad-hoc committee on accommodation, logistics, feeding etc, onshore and offshore of the Nigerian pilgrims”, was presented by the committee chairman, Senator Adamu Aliero, for consideration and approval.

    It was, however, stepped down to enable senators to read and digest the document.

    The committee said it discovered over-bloated onshore and offshore charges by NAHCON levied on intending pilgrims in addition to state welfare boards.

    The charges, it said, made the Hajj fare to be on the high side.

    The alleged “fraudulent charges”, the report said, “escalates the cost of the pilgrimage”.

    The report said the commission is under the impression that it is not among the public agencies listed in the Second Schedule of the Utilities and Charges Commission, even when the Second Schedule (j) of the Act states “such other public utilities as may be determined from time to time by the commission”.

    It said “for instance, in 2017, Onshore Charges such as administrative fee, Hajj development levy, yellow card and registration forms paid to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria by the 75,000 Nigerian pilgrims that went through the states pilgrims’ welfare boards amounted to N712,500,000.

    It said State Pilgrims Welfare Boards charged administrative and other charges, which amounted to N1,474,875,000.

    It added that each pilgrim was further charged the sum of$1.33 as tent security deposit.

    “This appears to be duplication, considering that $322.37 paid by each pilgrim should have been inclusive of tent security,” the report said.

    It said: “NAHCON agreed that the $1.33 paid by each pilgrim is a caution deposit to cover for any damage to the tents, but it is not all the $99,750 (N30,423,750) paid by the 75,000 Nigerian pilgrims in 2017 that would be spent on repairing the damaged tents.

    “There ought to have been details of how such funds are being expended every year, but the commission could not avail any detail to the committee.”

    The report said $73.37 paid by 75,000 pilgrims totalling $5,502,750 was paid to the commission as tent facilities, which overlapped with monies already paid.

    It said the commission claimed that the $73.37paid by each pilgrim is for the provision of bedding materials in Muna and Arafat.

    The committee said it could not ascertain the veracity of such payment.

    According to the Senate committee, “NAHCON often goes on spending spree from the said generated revenue, quite beyond the approval threshold of the accounting officer, which is a branch to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation circular SGF/OP/S.3/X1/894 dated January 14, 2016.”

    It said in 2015, the commission rented 90 rooms apartment for its Makkah office at the cost of SR600,000 per annum, an amount it noted “is far above the approved threshold of the accounting officer”.

    It said in its 2017 Hajj report, the commission has sought the approval of Mr. President to expend N1.5 billion to furnish its newly acquired office complex from the proceeds of the rents of pilgrims’ accommodation at Madina.

    The report noted that “the revenue collectors’ receipts used in Madina in 2016 were fraudulently sourced as neither NAHCON’s security register nor sub-treasurer of the federation’s security schedule carried the serial numbers of those receipts while the sum of about N5,000,000 was paid in as against over N1,000,000,000”.

    The committee said NAHCON and state pilgrims welfare board sponsored outrageous number of officials to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the revenue generated from the pilgrims and funds from state governments.

    The committee recommended among others that “the monumental fraud associated with the provision of accommodation in Madina, the subletting of bed space and other procured services rendered by the commission between 2015 and 2018 (inclusive) should be investigated fully by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with a view to bringing culprits to book”.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, asked senators to read the report, describing its contents as weighty.

    Reading the document, Ekweremadu said, would enable senators to make meaningful contributions when the consideration of the document resumes.

  • Senate panel queries N1.5tr social investment programme

    THE Senate yesterday rated the implementation of the N1.5 trillion National Social Investment Programme low.

    The upper chamber said from all indications, it is obvious that Nigerians were not feeling the impact of the programme.

    It cautioned that the programme was gradually going the way of the disbanded Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    It threatened to drastically reduce the yearly allocation of N500 billion to NSIP, if performance failed to improve.

    The funds for NSIP are provided under the Service Wide Vote under the Presidency.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje made the threat when the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, appeared before the committee to provide clarification on proposed budget implementation.

    The presidential aide, however, told the committee that NSIP has received N175 billion in 2016 and 2017 fiscal year.

    Mrs. Uwais said: “You may kindly recall that a sum of N500 billion was appropriated for the NSIP budget in 2017, out of which N100 billion was allocated for the Social Housing Scheme under the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    “Furthermore, out of the balance N400 billion, only N90 billion was released to the NSIP for the year 2017.”

    She said they received the sum of N85 billion in 2016

    Goje, who stressed the importance of the programme, noted that by the end of three years, the NSIP would have handled N1.5 trillion.

    He said: “Many people are complaining that they have not seen the impact of the programme, considering the magnitude of the fund involved.

    “I am from Gombe State, I represent Gombe Central. I am yet to see one single boy, who came to tell me that he has benefitted from your N500 billion.

    “Many other Nigerians are saying the same thing. N500 billion for 36 states is about N13 trillion. If you spend N13 billion in one year in Gombe State, there is no way I would not have known, other people will also know.

    “If you spend N500 billion in one year in Nigeria, Nigerians will know. No single All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe State has benefitted from your School Feeding programme. No single person from Gombe State has benefitted from your N-Power. We don’t know about your N-Power. As far as many of us are concerned, we are completely dissatisfied with what you are doing.”

    Goje also said there was no indication to show that N100 billion is deducted from source for Social Housing Scheme by the Ministry of Finance.

    He said: “Senate does not know about N100 billion going for Housing Scheme. The money is given to you for social investment.”

    Mrs. Uwais insisted: “Unfortunately, N100 billion is deducted at source for Housing Scheme by the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

    The budget defence almost degenerated into shouting match between the committee members and Mrs. Uwais.

    A member of the committee, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, noted that they foresaw the problem at the beginning of the programme.

     

  • Senate panel lauds NEITI’s interventions in sector

    Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has been commended for its interventions in the sector.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Tijjani Kaura, who gave the commendation in Abuja, when NEITI appeared before the committee to defend its 2018 budget proposal, said the development saved the sector from collapse.

    In a statement by NEITI, Kaura said the monumental corruption that characterised the oil and gas industry since inception resulted to a situation where natural resources became a curse instead of a blessing to citizens.

    He said: “We are aware of the courageous work that NEITI has done and the sanity that its intervention has brought to the sector in spite of mounting challenges. NEITI’s bold and courageous disclosures have drawn attention and beamed the torch light on the sector that is the lifeline of the nation.”

    He expressed satisfaction with the excellent work done by NEITI, especially in the last two years, promising to support the agency to get the required resources to enable it fulfill its mandate.

    “We have very high regards for you and your agency because we know you are transparent, I personally commend the Executive Secretary and his able team in NEITI for walking the talk,” he stated.

    He challenged other agencies to emulate the professionalism and integrity exhibited by NEITI in the discharge of its duties.

    Presenting the budget, NEITI Executive Secretary Waziri Adio appealed to the committee for support in ensuring adequate appropriation so that the agency would continue to deliver on its mandate.

    Adio told the committee the driving philosophy of NEITI remained the promotion of a culture of learning and achieving much with less and commended the government for supporting the operations of the NEITI even when the pronouncements of the agency appear to challenge the status quo.

    He reiterated the commitment of the agency to remain professional, bold and courageous in confronting institutional, governance and man-made obstacles that would frustrate transparency and accountability in the extractive sector, especially the oil and gas industry.

    The NEITI chief identified the “automation of NEITI audit process, timely and regular reporting, and multi-stakeholders’ mobilisation towards using the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) framework for reforms” as key priorities of the agency.

    He, however, urged the National Assembly to appreciate its relationship with NEITI as that of critical partners in the monitoring and oversight functions, adding that one way to achieving this is for the National Assembly to “ensure that NEITI reports were publicly debated at plenary sessions of the Senate and House of Representatives, pay attention to the recommendations contained in the report and ensure that remediation occurred.

    This, he maintained, would guarantee the on-going reforms in the sector championed by the NEITI’s advocacy impact the citizenry. He said: “This is not what we can do all alone by ourselves; we need you and others to play their parts.”

    Also, NEITI has commended the step taken by both chambers of the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB). It said the decision to consider the Bill as priority resulting in its eventual passage was bold, courageous and progressive, given the challenges the bill had passed through in its legislative journey for over 10years.

     

     

     

     

  • Senate panel raises eyebrows over N205m in NEPZA budget

    Senate panel raises eyebrows over N205m in NEPZA budget

    Allegations of budget padding arising from irregularities in estimates presented by a government agency and the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing were raised yesterday during the 2018 budget defence session before Senate committees.

    The Senate Committee on Trade and Investment alleged that there was a plan by the management of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) to pad the agency’s  2018 budget by N205million.

    The committee said that the agency also over bloated its personnel cost in 2017 budget in excess of N122million

    This discovery was made when NEPZA Managing Director Emmanuel Jime and other top officials appeared before the committee for their 2018 budget defence.

    A member of the committee, Senator  Usman Bayero Nafada, took on the management on the request for  N638million for personnel cost in their 2017 budget out of which N505million has been  used for salary payment up to November 2017.

    Nafada noted that based on the N505million already spent by the agency to pay salaries of its workers up to November, only N11million was needed for December salary and not the balance of N133million.

    The Gombe North Senator drew the attention of the members of the committee to a proposal made by the agency to hike its personnel cost in the 2018 budget to N710million.

    He noted that if NEPZA in 2017 had excess of about N122million on personnel cost out of the N638million, “why request for N710 million in 2018, which if approved, would result in surplus of N205millio?”

    Nafada added: “This is unacceptable and should not be allowed to scale through by this committee.”

    Chairman of the committee, Senator Sabo Mohammed asked NEPZA MD to explain the surplus.

    Jime could not convince the senators with his explanations that the surplus was due on promotion arrears.

    He also blamed the surplus on the office of the Accountant General of the Federation saying “The surplus was not created by us but rather what was approved for us by the AGF office. “

    The committee faulted his argument by telling him that the AGF office works on projections and approvals forwarded to it as far as personnel cost is concerned .

    The committee resolved to limit the personnel cost of the agency for the 2018 to N516m.

    It also resolved take the excess of N205million to capital votes since the agency is expected to fund its overhead budget with internally generated revenues ( IGR).

    The budget defence session between the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy and the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing was yesterday declared inconclusive following alleged questionable duplications of items.

    Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Baba Shahuru and Permanent Secretary, Louis Edozie, were ordered by members of the committee to go and rework their documentation.

    The committee said that there were “too many duplications, repetitions and replications” in the presentation of the minister and the permanent secretary to be overlooked.

    Part of the details of the 2018 budget proposal the ministry officials presented at the session showed that N120 million, N480 million and N288 million were separately voted for purchase of utility vehicles by the Ministry.

    Another N100 million was earmarked for transfer and management of office files and documents.

    The lawmakers were furious that “year in, year out, the Ministry presents the same items in the budget and ask for more funds to execute the same projects.”

    Signs that the budget defence session might not end on good note started when Senator Clifford Ordia observed the duplication of purchase of utility vehicles, captured in three separate pages of the budget document.

    The Edo Central lawmaker also demanded explanation from the Minister and Permanent Secretary on why the Ministry planned to spend N100 million to transfer files.

    He added that there was another huge provision for ICT which should not be left hanging.

    Ordia said, “I need to understand this thing. Look at the different pages. You earmarked N120 million, N288 million and N480 million for the purchase of vehicles. I do not understand. Are these vehicles different? If you add up these figures, they will give you about N888 million.

    “You also said that you want to spend N100 million on transfer of office files. How do you intend to do that? The people in your office, what have they been doing? I can also see from your estimates here that you captured another item for ICT, different from the N100 million for transfer of files. You need to explain these things.”

    Another member of the committee, Senator Mohammed Hassan on his part noted that they were tired of seeing the same items every year.

    Hassan insisted that the minister and permanent secretary should take steps to put the ministry in order in the interest of the country.

    Hassan also demanded the breakdown of the N17.8 billion the ministry received in 2017 stating where the money was applied.

    The Yobe South lawmaker said, “Every year you bring new projects that are unrelated. We should be given list of ongoing projects. Unrelated projects are listed, nobody knows how much has been applied to the projects.”

    Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, another member of the committee said: “From the beginning to the end of the documentation there are questions and questions to be asked. Most of the funds were duplicated in the Transmission Company of Nigeria budget.

    “Mr. Minister, you said you will provide answers to our questions later. Why do we waste time sitting here when answers to our questions will be provided another day. They are not prepared for the budget defence. They should go back when they are prepared they should come back.”

    Chairman of the committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, noted that the 2017 budget (capital) of the Ministry recorded 18 only per cent performance.

    Abaribe said, “We will take it that the 2017 budget was abysmally low at only 18 per cent performance. This is unacceptable and I need to put it on record.”

    A mild drama ensued, when the Minister of State, Shahuri, could not respond to questions.

    Instead of answering the questions, Shahuri asked the committee to allow the Permanent Secretary, Edozie to provide answers on his behalf.

    His request was rejected by senators.

    Abaribe told the minister, “You were sent here to represent the Minister. It means you are here to respond to our questions. Last week, we invited the Permanent Secretary to respond. Today, it is your turn.

    “My colleagues asked me how come you are the person here and not Minister Fashola. But I told them since you were also a Minister, you could be here to on behalf of your Minister.”

    Asked why the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, did not show up for the budget defence,  Shahuru, said that Fashola was attending to other state matters.

    Speaking on Fashola’s absence Abaribe said: “Maybe Fashola decided to snub us because of some media reports last week. But he ought not to have been angry by that. I am sure that was why he sent you because he did not want to come here.

    “I said it that it was deliberate that Fashola did not show up. What we need to scrutinise the budget was not provided. We needed some thing to make the process easy. Nobody is satisfied with these vague items. We are going to adjourn this meeting, pending when we will get these submissions from you.”

    “We are asking you to inform the Minister to be here to properly respond to all the questions we need to ask. We will do a comprehensive letter asking for explanation on items where we have raised questions. That will guide you in giving your submissions. We need you to be prepared when next you come.”

     

     

  • Malami tells Senate panel: I met with Maina in Dubai

    Malami tells Senate panel: I met with Maina in Dubai

    Justice minister admits writing commission

    ‘Maina ran account through sms, e-mail’

    A clearer picture of  Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami’s role in the reinstatement of fugitive civil servant Abdulrasheed Maina emerged yesterday.

    The minister admitted before a Senate ad hoc panel probing Maina’s reinstatement into the civil service and promotion to acting director that he met with Maina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)  last year.

    He also said he wrote letters to the Federal Civil Service Commission (FRSC) on the sacked chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team.

    Maina was in 2015 accused of over N2billion pension fraud and declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The EFCC enlisted the International Police (INTERPOL) to trace Maina.

    But he dramatically showed up in the country and was last month reinstated as acting director in the Ministry of Interior.

    An embarrassed President Muhammadu Buhari ordered Maina’s immediate sack and a probe of how he was brought back. The EFCC stepped up its investigation. But Maina has not been seen since then.

    The Senate panel is conducting its probe in camera with a promise to brief reporters at the end of its investigation.

    But a source told The Nation last night that Malami, Interior Minister Abdulrahman Danbazau and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior appeared before the committee.

    The Interior minister and the permanent secretary insisted that they played no role in Maina’s recall that the attorney general admitted writing three letters to the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) on Maina. But he said he did not bring him back.

    Senators reportedly asked the minister questions ranging from the authenticity of the correspondence between him and the FCSC, the constitutionality of his alleged directives to the commission and the extent of his involvement in the reinstatement of the controversial civil servant.

    Another source close to the committee said: “Malami agreed before the parliamentary panel that he held a meeting with Maina in Dubai, although he insisted that he was not responsible for his dramatic return to the service. “

    The source added: “The committee discovered that three letters were written by the Justice Minister asking questions from the FCSC on Maina. There is no record that the questions were answered by the FCSC in any correspondence.

    “The fourth letter was written by the Attorney-general in January as a directive to the Civil Service Commission to reinstate Maina. In the letter, the AG asked for Maina’s status, his position, rank and next rank.

    “There was another letter in February where the AG directed the Civil Service Commission to reinstate Maina. The committee frowned at this because under the constitution, they felt the AG cannot issue that kind of directive.”

    According to the source, the AG wrote another letter in April asking whether the reinstatement had been effected. In that letter, he directed the FCSC to promote Maina to Director.

    The source added: “When committee members asked the AG to react to the allegations that he wrote the letters, the AG agreed that he wrote them, but said he could not remember all that he wrote. He pleaded with the committee to allow him contact his files to ascertain the content. He promised to return tomorrow. The committee agreed.

    The source added: “The committee was satisfied that the Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation documented everything.

    “The Committee observed that she was tidy. It was learnt that at the sitting, the HoS did not release the purported letter written by the Civil Service Commission to Maina. The question the committee will be finding answer to on Thursday is where the Ministry of Interior got the letter it relied upon to reinstate Maina”.

     

  • Why hunger is prevalent in Nigeria, by Senate panel

    CHAIRMAN, Senate Committee on Agriculture Senator Abdullahi Adamu at the weekend blamed widespread hunger in Nigeria on non-payment of workers’ salary, poor implementation of agricultural policies and lack of statistical data for planning.

    Adamu, who spoke in Abuja on Saturday, wondered how a worker who has not been paid salary for months can afford to feed himself.

    Describing the unfolding situation as “unfortunate state of affair”, the former Nasarawa State governor asked the government to sit down and set necessary targets upon which food production and determination will be based.

    He underscored the need for the true population of the country to be established to enable the government to know the number of mouths it caters for.

    He noted that though hunger seemed to be on the increase, it could be effectively mitigated because there is abundance of food items in parts of the country.

    He said that there might be hunger in a country even with the abundance of food if the people cannot afford to buy due to lack of money.

    Abdullahi, who spoke glowingly about the just ended national agricultural show, said it was wrong to see subsidy for the agricultural sector as corruption, especially when such subsidy is meant to grow the sector.

    He said: “Well, it is an unfortunate state of affair. And talking very seriously, if I say there is no hunger in Nigeria, I will be lying…

    “What is happening now is that we have food but people can’t afford the food we have. Go to the closest market to you, Garki, Kubwa, Gwagwalada, any market and you see food everywhere, but people cannot afford it.

    “They cannot afford it because they don’t have money. Abuja is a working class city and if people have not been paid their salary, how can they afford to buy food if they are sincere, if they live on the tenet that they are not corrupt? They don’t have any other way of making money, except from their salary and wages and allowances.”

    On the aborted yam export, he said, “I was sad and I believe that if we are up and doing, the people behind that export should be apprehended. They should because this is the time when government effort is to promote it. That was a minus for Nigeria; very big one.”

  • Pressure on Senate panel to drop $25b contracts probe

    The Senate Ad Hoc Committee probing the “$25billion transactions” by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is under pressure to drop the enquiry, The Nation has learnt.

    Some prominent citizens have been asking committee Chairman Aliyu Wammako to either stay action on the probe or work towards a “soft-landing” investigation and report.

    Others, who are influential stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, have been lobbying the Senate leadership to suspend the probe in the light of “convincing clarifications” by the Presidency.

    Besides, they maintain that there are “no issues” to investigate again, a source said.

    But some members of the committee are said to be adamant, insisting on the investigation of the issues in the August 30 memo of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

    The pressure is believed to have accounted for why the panel has not started sitting since it was constituted by the Senate on October 4.

    It was learnt that in the past two weeks, lobbyists have been trailing Wammako to his residence in Asokoro District.

    One of such high-profile lobbying sessions took place last Wednesday.

    A source said: “These bigwigs actually wanted the Senate to suspend the probe. But the chamber said since the issue was already in the public domain, it will not be good for the image of the Senate.

    “The battle has shifted to the Senate Ad Hoc Committee. Some of these lobbyists have either asked Wammako to either stay away from the probe or work towards a “soft-landing” investigation and report.

    “In one breath, they claimed that since the Presidency and NNPC had made convincing clarifications that there was no contract awarded, going into the allegations contained in the Minister’s memo will be chasing shadows.

    “They alleged that since the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru have reconciled, there is nothing to probe.”

    “Some of the lobbyists are believed to have cautioned the Senate Committee against causing a fresh distress in the oil sector.

    They told some members of the committee that even Kachikwu and Baru did not want the investigation to go on because it might affect the oil and gas industry. About 40 oil firms are likely to be summoned.

    “This is the real reason why the committee has not been able to sit. The chairman and members are really under pressure,” the source said.

    But some members of the committee have insisted that the investigation must go ahead “in the interest of Nigerians” and to protect the integrity of the Senate.

    The logic, according to a member of the committee, is that “since the committee has been mandated by the Senate to look into issues between Kachikwu and Baru, we have no choice than to carry out this legislative duty.

    “To me, I believe the interest of Nigeria is paramount than any other consideration. I believe the probe will go on; what we are working out is logistics,” he said, pleading not to be named.

    Apart from Wammako, other members of the committee are Senators Tayo Alasoadura; Kabiru Marafa; Albert Bassey; Sam Anyanwu; Ahmed Ogembe; Chukwuka Utazi; Rose Okoh and Baba Kaka Garbai.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Ibe Kachikwu and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, have been locked in a big row over alleged award of $25b contracts, insurbodination and lack of respect for due process.

    Kachikwu asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call the GMD to order.

    He said he was always being blocked from seeing the President.

    Kachikwu, who made his views known in an August 30th, 2017 memo to President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that five major contracts were never reviewed by or discussed with him or the Board of NNPC. He listed the contracts as follows:

    • The Crude Term Contracts – value at over $10b
    • The DSDP contracts – value over $5b
    • The AKK pipeline contract – value approximately $3b
    • Various financing allocation funding contracts with the NOCs – value over $3bn
    • Various NPDC production service contracts – value at over $3bn – $4bn

    Both the NNPC and its Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru have insisted that the transactions were validly conducted within the agency’s expenditure limits.

    They claimed that the board of NNPC cannot approve contracts but they can review and give advice.

    They insisted that the NNPC only carried out transactions and did not award contracts.

     

     

  • Senate panel: Lawal must be prosecuted

    Senate panel: Lawal must be prosecuted

    The travails of the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir David Lawal, may be far from over.
    The Senate ad-hoc committee investigating “Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East”, yesterday recommended his prosecution for alleged infraction and contravention of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
    The Committee also said Lawal breached the Oaths of Office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation and should therefore be prosecuted by relevant authorities.
    This is contained in the recommendations of the committee submitted to the Senate yesterday by the Chairman of the ad-hoc Committee, Senator Shehu Sani.
    The committee said: “Committee is of the opinion that Engr. Babachir David Lawal has contravened the provision of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As amended); the Public Procurement Act 2007 and breach the Oaths of Office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation should be prosecuted by the relevant authorities.”
    The Committee also recommended “further investigation by relevant agencies of Government on why contract benefitting companies paid over Five hundred million (N500,000,000.00) into Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company in which Engr. Babachir David Lawal has interest.”
    It said “the Banks transactions of Rholavision Engineering Limited and the confirmation by the Central Bank of Nigeria that the Bank Verification Number of Engr. Babachir David Lawal is still the signatory to Rholavision Engineering Limited accounts and thirteen (13) other accounts, some with different names; the Committee is of the opinion that Engr. Babachir David Lawal has contravened the provision of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As amended); the Public Procurement Act 2007 and breach the Oaths of Office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation should be prosecuted by the relevant authorities.”
    The committee recommended that “all resources that have been misapplied or stolen by public officials should be retrieved and anybody found culpable of contravening any of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to the award of these contracts should be duly prosecuted by the relevant authorities.”
    It added that “relevant agencies should ensure that contracts partially executed but fully paid for must be completed by the concerned contractors, or asked to refund the equivalent money of outstanding jobs to the government treasury.”
    The committee noted that “since there is evidence of malnutrition, hunger and starvation among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the Federal Government and States in the North East should as a matter of urgency see that food items, shelter and other essentials are adequately and promptly provided to the IDPs in order to address the prevailing malnutrition observed amongst them.”
    It added that the issue of many out-of-school children in the IDPs as result of poor educational facilities necessitates that concerted effort should be made by both the Federal and State Governments of the North East to provide conducive learning atmosphere for the children of the IDPs.
    It noted that “the complete absence of personnel of the Federal Ministry of Health in the IDP camps leaves much to be desired, hence the ministry should be compelled to immediately deploy its personnel to all the IDPs Camp to Support the efforts of the international Humanitarian Crisis Managers and the Nigerian Air force medical team in providing the necessary medical assistance so as to avert possible outbreak of communicable diseases like cholera, measles, and diarrhea etc; “
    The committee prayed the Senate to “condemn the failure of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) that are critical to the management, to appear before the Committee despite several invitations.”
    It said: “Since it was established that PINE was paying less attentions to the critical needs of the IDPs in the form of housing, the bulk of the resources were used for issues that were not addressing the immediate needs of the IDPs, but rather wasted resources on issues that merely address the pecuniary needs/interest of the officials and associates therefore, the Committee recommends that there is the need for concerted effort to reorient the intervention effort of the emergency situation, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPE) should undertake a revaluation of such contracts to recover any proceeds from over inflated contracts.
    “Relevant agencies should ensure that contracts partially executed but fully paid for must be completed by the concerned contractors, or asked to refund the equivalent money of outstanding jobs to the government treasury.
    “All resources that have been misapplied or stolen by public officials should be retrieved and anybody found culpable of contravening any of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to the award of these contracts should be duly prosecuted by the relevant authorities.”
    “Since one of the issues hindering the management of emergency situation in the IDPs is the lack of synergy and proper coordination among all humanitarian crisis managers in the IDPs, the Committee recommends that the newly constituted Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI) should ensure that there is proper synergy and coordination and government should ensure that PCNI be manned by people of high integrity; and inclusive enough to accommodate the leaders of the various communities that are involved.
    “Since all the contracts awarded by PINE were awarded under the principle of emergency situation, PINE should forward a detailed report of all contracts awarded by it to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in accordance with Section 43 (iv) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.”
    It said since it was observed that there was no bill of quantities on most of the contracts awarded by PINE under the BPE should review all the contracts.
    With the submission of the final report of the committee, the Senate will now choose a day to consider the report and make its recommendations and resolutions.

     

  • Senate panel wants NEITI to retain part of recovered revenues

    Senate panel wants NEITI to retain part of recovered revenues

    •Agency canvasses new petroleum bill

    THE Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) has made a case for the review of Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) law to enable the agency retain a percentage of revenues recovered from the extractive companies.

    Its chairman, Senator Omotayo Alasoadura, said this when he led his colleagues on an oversight visit to the NEITI Secretariat, Abuja.

    He expressed satisfaction with the contributions of the watchdog organisation towards the on-going reforms of the nation’s extractive industries.

    A statement from NEITI yesterday quoted Alasoadura as saying: “The Senate and Nigerians are happy with NEITI, given the courage and boldness the agency exhibits in the pursuance of its assignments over the years, resulting in the positive reforms that we have witnessed in the sector.”

    The committee chairman reaffirmed the commitment of Senate to keep backing NEITI through improved budgetary provisions.

    He described NEITI as a “special agency” of government deserving of special attention by way of adequate funding.

    He explained that the issues raised by the NEITI Industry Audit reports were receiving the attention of senators and expressed dismay over poor funding of the agency.

    As part of measures to address the funding challenges experienced by NEITI, the committee chair said the Senate might need to review the NEITI law to enable the agency retain a percentage of revenues recovered from the extractive companies.

    NEITI Executive Secretary Mr. Waziri Adio identified the need for a new law for the petroleum sector as one priority area that the Senate needed to pay immediate attention.

    He used the opportunity to present NEITI’s latest policy brief titled: “The Urgency of a new Petroleum Sector Law”, to the committee.

    Adio said the urgency of a new petroleum sector law was the focus of the policy brief.

    He informed the committee that the policy brief examined Nigeria’s challenges in enacting an over-arching law for the petroleum sector despite repeated attempts and the resultant huge negative economic implications and revenue losses.

    Quoting from the policy brief, he said: “Nigeria’s Petroleum Bill is perhaps one of the most important bills ever to be contemplated in Nigeria’s history, yet the one that has taken the most time and generated the most activity without legislation.”

    He noted that Nigeria might have lost about $200 billion as a result of the absence of a new law in the petroleum sector.

    He advised that a piecemeal rather than an omnibus approach to the passage of the law be adopted, and underlined the need for the law to have robust transparency, accountability and efficiency measures.

    Adio said as an agency saddled with the responsibility of ensuring transparency and accountability in the extractive industries, NEITI has a legitimate interest in the bill.

    He urged the Senate to work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that a new petroleum law is prioritised, enacted and used as one of the strategies for economic recovery.

    The executive secretary informed the committee that NEITI was confronted with serious financial challenges capable of hampering its core mandate and appealed to members to do everything within their powers to rescue the agency.

    He hailed the Senate for the opportunity provided to NEITI to brief the Upper House on the findings of its 2013 oil, gas and solid minerals audit reports.