Leke Adeseri & Tordue Salem
2 January 2009
The House of Representatives Committee on Power has recommended that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) be invited to investigate the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank (CBN).
And in the Executve Summary of the Report, the committeee lamented the flagrant disregard of constitutional provisions in the release of funds to the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP).
The report, among others, wants the EFCC to investigate how due process was set aside in paying contractors; spending part of internally-generated revenue amounting to N786 million without due process, and the role of the Central Bank of Nigeria "in view of the apparent unwillingness of the CBN to co-operate with the Committee in this matter or provide the Committee with a proper account of withdrawals from the Excess Crude Account..."
In addition, the committee recommended an intensive and extensive purge at all levels of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and associated agencies, saying "corrupt staff must not be allowed to infest and poison the emergent platform for implementation of the power sector reforms."
Other issues recommended for probe include
• Lack of in-house checks/processes;
• Failure of NEPA/PHCN to release documents of N9.6bn compensation to land owners for checks in spite of repeated requests;
• Lack of in-house requests;
• Documents in respect of purchase of vehicles;
• Failure to make available road survey contracts for checks;
• Irregular transfers of money, that is, those not backed up by documentation;
• Loans totalling about N6.68bn (1996) out of which N543m was withheld by parent Ministry and NEPA was paying interest at annual interest of N8lm on the loan and in 1999;
• Releases from Accountant-General's Office to PHCN showed a difference suggesting that there were sums withheld by the Ministry;
• Some mobilisations paid in excess of government guidelines; and;
• The sum of N15bn disappeared from PHCN account and came back after about two months about which the Auditor-General sent a report to PHCN but they failed to respond.
The committee noted further in the report that it is "perturbed by the failure of the CBN Governor to provide information in respect of Letters of Credit opened and where the money involving over $1 billion has been kept all these years," and recommended that "in view of the apparent unwillingness of the CBN to co-operate with the Committee in this matter or provide the Committee with a proper account of withdrawals from the Excess Crude Account, the balance on the account, where the moneys in respect of unutilised Letters of Credit are kept and interest that have accrued thereto, we recommend that the EFCC be invited to investigate the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria in respect of the above issues relating to Letters of Credit opened."
Contracts recommended for review, investigation and further action for reasons of non-completion long after contract date of completion in spite of having been paid, non-performance, lack of execution capacity, demonstrated incompetence or abandonment of contract include:
•Owerri-Ahaoda-Yenagoa Transmission line. S/S Pivot Engineering
•Alaoji-Calabar 330Kv DC Trx line Energovod SRO
•Maiduguri 330/l32kv S/S Charnel Engineering
•Alaoji - Umuahia l32kv DC Trx line Pivot Engineering
•Gombe - Damaturu - Maiduguri 330kv Trx line l EC/News Engineering
•Calabar 330/l32/33kv S/S MBH Power
•Arochukwu l32/33kv S/S Omen lnt'l Ltd
8. Ado Ekiti l32/33kv/ S/S JKN Ltd
9. Umuahia l32/33kv S/S Valenz Holdings
l0. Damaturu 330/l32/33kv S/S Parsian l-K Div.
In its executive summary, the committee also said that its most striking revelation was the flagrant disregard of constitutional provisions in the release of funds for the failed National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).
According to the executive summary obtained by Vanguard yesterday, the Olusegun Obasanjo regime unilaterally spent $13.28 billion and entered into unfunded commitment of $12 billion in respect of the projects.
This puts paid to the controversy of how much was actually sunk in the projects.
The Ndudi Elumelu committee report stated categorically that Section 80 (subsections 3) of the 1999 Constitution which stated what no moneys shall be withdrawn from any federal fund other than Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, when the issues were authorised by an Act of the National Assembly was routinely flouted by the regime.
Also, the subsection (4) which states that; "no moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidate Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly was damned in the NIPP funding," the report added.
According to the committee, "in a large number of instances, legal processes in the appropriation and release of funds for the power projects were circumvented. Project costs were routinely and massively inflated, in a number of cases up to 1,000 per cent project over-pricing was reported."
Report to be vetted by House
The report which indicted the immediate past federal administration, Vanguard learnt from reliable sources, might "go through a final vetting", before it is finally presented before the plenary session sometime in February, when the House is expected to be through with the 2009 Budget.
The reasons for the final vetting, a lawmaker (name withheld), says "must not include recommendations or sanctions, because we cannot prosecute anybody, Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution gives us the powers of investigations, but not necessarily the power of recommending what should be done to anybody who we think may have committed any offence, making recommendations, is within our discretion, there is no big deal about it "
Vanguard investigation also revealed that a principal member of the House from one of the South-East states and a few others in the leadership are not comfortable with the indictment of some governors and contractors, with whom they have 'good' relationships.
The impediments to a timely consideration of the power report is also coming from a large faction of the South-West caucus which is guarding against the possibility of lumping the bulk of the blame on former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Earlier, a Member of the House Committee on Power, Rep. Chinyere Igwe (PDP Port Harcourt 1, Rivers), in an exclusive interview with Vanguard, revealed that, contrary to speculations in the media, "Our report has not indicted anybody". He implored the speculating public to be "patient for the outcome of the report."
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