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Nigeria: Senate Probes Obj on Bad Roads, Rail, Aviation


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Vanguard (Lagos)

30 April 2008
Posted to the web 30 April 2008

Emmanuel Aziken, Tordue Salem and Victor Ahiuma-Young
Lagos

IT started with the House of Representatives investigation of the power sector in the Obasanjo years.

Then came the Senate probe of the Federal Capital Territory under the same regime, followed by the setting up of a panel by the House of Representatives to probe the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

Yesterday, the focus shifted to the transport sector comprising road, railway, aviation and sea sub-sectors with the Senate instituting a 12-man committee to probe what became of the "trillions of naira" appropriated for the sector in the last 12 years.

The resolution followed a motion proposed by 59 Senators alleging, among others, that trillions of naira invested in the transport sector in the last 12 years could not be accounted for. The motion which was presented by Senator Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu North) followed a Senate resolution on July 5, 2007 lamenting the collapse of road infrastructure despite the huge expenditure by the previous administration.

Moving the motion, Senator Eze said "trillions of naira have been spent on the transport sector in the last 12 years, including but not limited to the over N100 billion spent on the rail sub-sector; the near N500 billion spent on roads maintenance and construction and the consequent need to train more attention on what happened or did not happen in that sector during the period in question." He added that "this is just one of the indices of the quantum of money sunk in that sector in the recent past, considering that there was so much extra budgetary spending in the immediate and not too immediate past administrations, coupled, of course, with money spent on the Federal Road

Maintenance Agency (FERMA), an expenditure profile capable of boggling the mind." Senator Eze also recalled the utterance of a former governor of one of the South-East states who, according to him, "accused a former Minister of Works of squandering over N300 billion on Nigerian roads" with nothing to show for the money.

His motion was seconded by Senator Uche Chukwumerije (PPA, Abia North) who noted that the condition of Nigerian roads was one of the bad images of the country. Support for the motion came from several other Senators but a move by Senator Julius Ucha, chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, to restrict the enquiry to the Committee on Works was overruled by the Senate President, Senator David Mark, who presided at the session.

He was opposed by Senators Umaru Dahiru (PDP, Sokoto) and Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP, Cross River Central) who pleaded section 60 which allows the Senate to regulate its affairs for the proposal for an ad-hoc committee to handle the investigation. "The motion is timely, the situation is bad and the news with it is that it has started taking lives," Senator Manzo Anthony (PDP, Taraba North) said in support of the motion. In his observation on the motion, Senator Odion Ugbesia (PDP, Edo Central) cautioned against the allegation that N300 billion was expended by a former Works Minister on road construction and rehabilitation.

Following the submissions, including one from Senator Nuhu Aliyu (PDP, Niger North), that tolls be reintroduced to Nigeria roads, the Senate resolved to "investigate without delay the management of funds appropriated for our transport sector since 1999 in partial response to rising demands by our constituents and concerned Nigerians and in fulfilment of our oath of office to defend and promote the integrity of our dear fatherland; Conduct a full scale enquiry including public enquiry into what took place in the conduct of our transport policy."

Panel members

The 12- man ad-hoc committee announced by the Senate President to conduct the investigation comprises Senator Henieken Lokpobiri (Chairman), Alloysius Etok, Andrew Babalola, Felix Bajuomo and Ayogu Eze.

Others are Senators Sylvester Anyanwu, Patricia Akwashiki, Salihu Ohize, Bala Mohammed, Manzo Anthony, Jubril Mohammed Kabir and Umar Abubakar.

Relevant Links

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Sustainable Development
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Urban Issues and Habitation

FG spent N1.38trn on roads under OBJ -Reps

Last weekend, some members of the House of Representatives alleged that the Federal Government under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo spent about N1.38 trillion on roads between May 29, 1999 and May 28, 2007.

Mr. Chuma Nzeribe (PDP Ihialla, Anambra) in a document alleged that the Federal Government last year paid of N23.8 billion for abandoned projects under the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), saying: "The Federal Ministry of Transport (Works Section) awarded various contracts for the construction or roads, bridges and the maintenance of roads across the country from May 1999 till date across the country, to the tune of about N1 trillion, but even the Ministers of Transportation (Works Sector) have in the recent past decried the near total collapse of existing road network," and observing that "about 80 per cent of these roads have become un-motorable and indeed collapsed."

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Read comments. Write your own.

Author: landoezekiel

Nigerians should not believe anything coming out from the David Mark led Senate. Like many Nigerians, I would draw solace if the House of Representative initiated the proposed probe of Obasanjo on Bad Roads, Rail and aviation. Yes, both houses are tinted because 80% of their members were rigged-in by Obasanjo and his operatives but that said the House of Rep. as evidenced during the Etteh saga has demonstrated its integrity to be independent. If the Senate is not able to demonstrate the political will to condemn Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello on a simple matter as stolen 10 Million Naira how the... [Read Full Text]

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