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Nigeria: Why Ikenne Grains Silo Was Abandoned - Contractor
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This Day (Lagos)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Sufuyan Ojeifo
Abuja
Emerald Packaging Nigeria Limited, one of the companies that got silo contract from Federal Ministry of Agriculture in 1990, yesterday explained why his company could not execute the Ikenne, Ogun State Silo Project.
Its Chairman, Alhaji Lawal Garba, yesterday told the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee probing food crisis in the country that local thieves stole the equipment.
Garba , while testifying before the Committee headed by Senator Idris Umar, said his company delivered all equipment required for construction of the silo and had been paid £1.9 million for the job.
He said the company was committed to doing a good job, but was frustrated by thieves from the community, adding that in the circumstance the company could not be asked to make any refund for non-execution of the contract.
He said, "I have done no wrong; I was paid N64 million for the contract; I imported the equipment and they were stolen. We were responsible for security on the site, but we had no power over the thieves."
His claim was swiftly contradicted by Deputy Director of Grains, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Engineer Femi Okunnu, who told the Committee that the company imported only four containers, which it deposited at the site as against its claim of 27 containers.
Okunu said, "nobody in the ministry confirmed that he imported the equipment, which he said were in 27 containers. A visit to the site showed that only four containers were there. The equipment is heavy and even if it was fire that gutted the site, the equipment would not have disappeared; but nothing was seen there when we visited the site."
He further told the Committee that the Ministry had, through a Committee headed by Alhaji Husseini Dikko, recommended that all companies that got the silo contracts and failed to execute them should be made to refund monies paid to them by the Federal Government.
According to Okunnu, in the case of Emerald, he said he was not going to pay anything. The offshore component was paid directly to him, while for the onshore components, he is supposed to be paid as he presents level of work done."
When the Committee confronted Garba, over the claim that he would not refund money paid to his company, he confirmed it.
He suggested to the Committee that he should be allowed to go, having imported the equipment.
Umar took him on, saying, "as it is, government has given you contract, paid you money and no work has been done. We shall make appropriate recommendation to the Senate."
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Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report yesterday, representatives of the companies among whom were former Minister of Industry and Chairman of Africa Business Roundtable, Alhaji Bamanga Mohammed Tukur and former governor of Borno State, Alhaji Asheik Jarma, did not appear before the Committee.
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