Abuja — House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel yesterday directed the management of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to refund the sum of $142 million paid for phoney contracts awarded between 1999 and 2007, to government coffers.

This is even as panel chairman, Hon Ndudi Elumelu, gave chief executives of companies that benefitted from contracts under investigation 24 hours to appear before the committee failing which a bench warrant would be issued for their arrests.

Also, Elumelu who faulted submissions of PHCN coordinator of Liaison

Unit Alhaji Shuaibu Maigida ordered the company to refund additional N2.1 billion, 2.1 million euro and 1.1 billion Yen allegedly spent on some questionable contracts during the same period.

PHCN claimed the various amounts were used to execute contracts in designated power hydro stations.

However, the federal lawmakers were stunned when respective chief executives of the power plants in their own submissions denied that such jobs were executed in their station, forcing Elumelu to order that the funds be returned to government coffers.

TMaigida who differed from submissions of the Minister of State for Energy (Power), Mrs. Fatimah Ibrahim, who had earlier appeared before the panel on the Internally Generate Revenue (IGR) of the PHCN put the amount at N515 billion as at 2007 as against the minister's figure of N505.9billion.

Maigida said the money was spent on the payment for gas; salaries of staff; settlement of loan obtained for Afam 5 and Delta Power Stations; payment of pension and gratuity; taxes; and capital projects.

He said the PHCN paid N10 billion as tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

But surprisingly in his presentation, chief executive officer of Kainji Hydro Electric Station, Mr. I.C. Okolie, denied knowledge of a contract worth N207. 9 billion contained in the submission made by the PHCN allegedly used in rehabilitating the plant.

While acknowledging that a contract worth $39.7 billion, was awarded in 1998 for the rehabilitation which lasted till 2002 when he assumed office at the station, he insisted that there was no other contract awarded for plant rehabilitation since he assumed office.

Okolie said the PHCN headquarters in Abuja awarded all contracts for power stations without involving the heads of the stations.

Also in his presentation, chief executive officer of Afam Power Station, Engr. M.O. Nwogbu similarly denied knowledge of a contract valued at $8.2 million awarded for the rehabilitation of the station's Units 15 and 16 as claimed by PHCN in its submission.

PHCN chief had stated that the company rehabilitated Units 15 and 16 with $6 million and $2.2 million, respectively.

But Nwogbu denied knowledge of the rehabilitation work.

Instead he said Units 17 and 18 were fixed with $35 million.

He said Unit 17 was rehabilitated with $20 million while Unit 18 was rehabilitated with $15 million as against PHCN claims.

Testifying, acting chief executive officer of Egbin Power Station, Mr. Jonathan Ogbonna also denied knowledge of four different contracts made by PHCN in its submission to rehabilitate the station.

The four contracts were awarded at 1.1 billion Japanese Yen; $2.4 million; N610 million; and N1.95billion.

Jonathan, however, admitted existence of the following contracts namely $70 million to rehabilitate units 6 and 4 of the station in 2002; 689 million Yen to repair Unit 3 in 2000; $56 million rehabilitate Units 1,5,3 and 2 in 2005; $27.4 million to purchase boiler for Unit 3; and another N778.9 million for new hydrogen plant.

He also admitted knowledge of other contracts awarded at $450,000; $288; and N16.95 million, respectively.

Similarly, chief executive of Ughelli Power Plc, Delta State , Mr. Ferdinard Eze denied knowledge of different contracts awarded by the PHCN to rehabilitate his stations.

The various contracts, also read out by the Elumelu were the ones valued at $11.9 million; $18.2 million;$24.036 million; $400,000; 2.1 million euros; $7.5million; $15.4 million; and $54 million.

Eze however admitted knowledge of $62 million contract awarded to replace 6 units in 2002; $154 million to replace 33 other units in 2005; N26 million for the transformer oil; $33 million to purchase oil turbine and $15.4 million for undisclosed item.

Worried by the claims and counter claims, Hon Elumelu ordered the PHCN to refund all the monies involved to the Federal Government, insisting that the contracts that the stations' head did not know about, did not exist.

"Modalities for the return of the monies to the Federal Government should be made as quick as possible," he stressed.

Also a subsidiary of PHCN, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is to refund a total sum of N116 million to government treasury.

Maigida, while testifying before the investigative panel said although a total of $3.8 billion (N308.46 billion) was approved for the PHCN under the reform programme between 1999 and 2007, only $2.6 billion was actually released.

According to him, the funds include N151 billion for Generation, N124 billion for Transmission and N34 for Distribution.

PHCN, he added also secured an undisclosed amount as loan from African Development Bank (ADB) for the interconnection project between Nigeria and neighboring Benin Republic.

He disclosed that another loan was secured from Siemen to build two power plants in the South West namely the Papalanto and Omotosho Power Plants, while three other sets of loans amounting to $407 million was gotten from the World Bank.

However he disclosed that only $121 million has so far been withdrawn from that loan.

Also testifying, the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ibrahim Dankwambo said the sum of N575.9 billion was budgeted for the power sector between 1999 and 2007, adding however that only N527.9 billion was released while N435.2 billion ($3.7 billion) was cash-backed.

Although, the figure tallied with the submission made by the PHCN as well as the Ministry of Energy (Power), it is different from the figure of $4.1 presented to the committee by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

TCN chief executive officer, Godwin Osakue could not convince the committee on why he had different figures for the contract awarded to build 26 substations across the country.

While he claimed in the paper he earlier submitted that N2.486 billion was used for the stations, in his testimony on Wednesday he claimed that N2.7 billion was expended leaving a difference of about N200 million.

Osakue could not also properly account for N116 million expended on transmission prompting Elumelu to direct the company to return the money to the FederalGovernment purse immediately.

Earlier,following inability of chief executives of some of the contracts to appear Elumelu threatened to invoke the constitution to issue a bench warrant against the NIPP management, consultants and contractors for failing to appear before the committee as scheduled yesterday.

About seven of the consultants and contractors had turned up for the hearing even as many of them were represented by junior staff, a situation which angered committee members.

Angered by the development he warned the chief executives to appear in person or face the wrath of the law.

His words: "I pronounce that all the contractors and consultants (chairmen and managing directors), must be here tomorrow, today failing of which a bench warrant will be issue against them."