Leadership (Abuja)
Andrew Oota
18 October 2008
At the end of its investigative hearing yesterday, the ad-hoc committee of the Senate on the transportation sector has revealed that trillions of naira were wasted on Nigerian roads without any positive result.
Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc Committee on the State of the Nigerian Roads, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who made the revelations yesterday, also stated that his committee would soon embark on a physical inspection or facility tour of the Nigerian roads.
The Senate had mandated the ad-hoc committee, led by Senator Lokpobiri to conduct a probe into the transportation sector with a view to unravelling what went wrong to the extent that so much was spent on roads without positive result.
This development led to the invitation all present and past ministers of Works Ministry, directors and contractors, who at one point or the other handled some contracts in the ministry.
Former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and one–time minister of Works, Chief Tony Anenih and Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe were amongst those summoned by the Senate Committee to give account of their stewardship in the Ministry of Works.
Chief Anenih had told the Senate that the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo should be blamed for the poor state of the Nigerian roads. He added that the impression created about his person was as somebody who mismanaged the billions appropriated for the roads was not correct.
Chief Anenih had also alleged that some of the contracts were not even paid for. He further told the panel that the last administration had a penchant for owing contractors that took loans from banks to execute government contracts, and therefore, it was not possible to get a quality job.
Chief Anenih also alleged that the last administration had a habit of going for low contractors, and as a result, was bound to get substandard jobs.
The committee, which did not disclose its findings in terms of how much was exactly uncovered to have been mismanaged on roads between 1999 and 2008, is expected to present its detailed report after the physical inspection tour.
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