Erasmus Alaneme
28 August 2008
Lagos — Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is still holding the Chairman of Ibeto Cement Company, Port Harcourt , Cletus Ibeto who was arrested on Tuesday following allegation of breach of contract.
Ibeto is being held by the EFCC operatives on allegation of collecting N350 million from an individual in 2006 for the supply of cement but is yet to fulfill his own part of the contract till date.
Daily Champion gathered that Ibeto was picked and detained following the petition from the said person that gave him the contract and is being held at the commission's headquarters while further investigations into the allegations contained in the petition are on-going.
Though EFCC confirmed the arrest without details, it was gathered that the move to hold the cement marketer is not far from his current position as the Chairman of the Verification Committee on the Status/Capacity of Cement Plants" which will nail some bogus cement factory owners and producers.
It is pertinent to note that the Ibeto Cement Company was closed down in 2006 on the directives of the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for reasons yet to be understood Nigerians on the mere accusation that the company was not manufacturing the product but rather, re-bagging cement.
However the present administration under Umaru Musa Yar'Adua returned the license of the company back to Ibeto and recently with the approval given by the Federal Government, Ibeto Cement may be one of the companies that will import bagged cements expected to hit thye shore of the country soon.
The Federal Government had while inaugurating the committee to verify claims by some marketers that they have cement factories that, charged the committee headed by Ibeto to furnish it with accurate information that will lead to issuance of license to proposing cement companies.
According to the Minister of Commerce and Industry who inaugurated the committee, "the Verification committee is expected to primarily carry out audit of the existing or planned factory sites, in order to confirm backward integration"
Ugwu had then disclosed that President Umaru Musa Yar'adua had given directive to the effect that the issuance of license for cement production in the country should be restricted only to firms that meet the requirements of the policy on the product.
Reacting on behalf of the committee then, Chairman of Ibeto Cement, Cletus Ibeto said that for long Nigerians have been experiencing the harsh effect of high cost and non availability of adequate cement products in the country.
Ibeto promised that the committee within the time frame given to it will come up with the facts behind the problem as well as proffer ways of resolving them amicably in the interest of all stakeholders.
He promised that once the committee finishes its work and the government implement all recommendations, then the end-users should get ready to start enjoying not only availability of products but at friendly prices.
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