Monday 29 February 2016

Reps Summon Former Minister Over $849m Rail Contract

The House of Representatives’ ad hoc committee investigating the N1 trillion railway contract following the alleged procurement of locomotives worth N12.5 billion without due process has summoned Isa Bio, former Minister of Transport.
Ibrahim, who took over from Diezani Alison-Madueke in 2009, is expected to provide valid documents allegedly signed for the procurement of locomotives.
Also invited by the ad hoc committee are top officials of Department of State Security (DSS), Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and 27 contractors allegedly involved in the implementation of the project.
Those invited are expected to appear before the committee on Thursday, March 3, 2016 to explain their various roles in the management of monies made available by the Federal Government to revamp the railway sector.
According to a source, the DSS official was invited to give a vivid account of the recommendations it made to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation concerning how the rail contracts were poorly managed between 2010 and 2014.
On the other hand, the SGF would explain to the committee what happened to the investigative report submitted to it by the DSS.
“So as you can see, the man (Bio) has a lot to tell the committee because he kick started the whole process in the first place,” the source said. The EFCC, according to the source, will give the committee the full details of its findings on the rail contract scam.
“As for the acting MD of NRC, government is a continuum and he has to give account of what he knows under oath and produce all the contractors.
“The contractors too must tell the committee all they have done with convincing evidence of the state of the contracts they executed,” the source said.

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