Senate queries works ministry over N4bn
By Ezrel Tabiowo
Abuja
Former President Goodluck Jonathan and some of his ministers may be sanctioned for allegedly appropriating to themselves reserved plots of land in Abuja, the nation’s capital city, if the Senate’s threat is anything to go by.
The Upper Chamber also pledged to commence the probe of former Ministers of FCT for allegedly violating the master plan of the nation’s capital. In this group are Ibrahim Bunu, Mohammed Abba Gana, Nasir El-Rufai, Aliyu Moddibo, Adamu Aliero and Bala Mohammed.
Chairman, Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Dino Melaye who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, also said the affected plots of land were designated as green areas, flood drains, city buffers, recreation, sewage lines, urban farming and city monuments, all within the highbrow Maitama District.
Apart from Jonathan, other alleged beneficiaries include former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, that of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, and the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, as well as a serving Executive Director in the FCT, Alhaji Ismaila Adamu.
Melaye who described their action as “satanic”, similarly blamed the immediate past Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, for indiscretion.
Melaye said, “Senator Bala Mohammed, in his bid to satisfy some powerful Nigerians before the end of his tenure, disregarded the wisdom of his predecessors and the vision of the founding fathers of Abuja.
“He went ahead to implement Messrs Fola Consult Limited’s recommendation by allocating these important features at the Maitama Hills to these powerful Nigerians.
“It is pathetic to state that one of the allottees has erroneously burst a sewage conduit pipe and the entire area messed up with offensive odour which could trigger off serious epidemic within that location.”
He said some of the beneficiaries have started putting structures on the plots, which the lawmaker said were hurriedly allocated in the twilight of the administration and Certificates of Occupancy hurriedly issued.
Melaye further said , “despite Senator Bala Mohammed’s defence to justify his acclaimed under-utilisation of existing infrastructure, the entire allocation along Mississippi Street is an eyesore”.
“The five most important actors in land matters in FCT (directors of land administration, including their executive secretary, Engr. Ismaila Adams), affirmed to that. The consequence of this if allowed, is flooding, epidemic, overcrowding, erosion, because all trees have been removed from all plots allocated”, he said.
“Permit me to remind FCT administration again, by restating that this committee will not hesitate to ensure that all administrative anomalies, misappropriation of funds or misapplication of laws as the case may be, that were occasioned by the past administrations of FCT, are fully addressed. This is what justice demands in this circumstances; to right the wrongs”, he stressed.
Melaye, while condemning the bastardization of Abuja Master plan, wondered why former FCT ministers allocated green areas designed for flood drains, city buffers, recreations, urban farming, reserved land and undevelopable areas.
He added that the committee was worried at the misleading advice and recommendation to convert very important and beautiful natural endowments or features which are very scanty like the world acclaimed Maitama Hills, popularly known as Ministers’ Hills, which could serve as a tourist attraction to the residents of FCT.
“I want to state here again that if the bourgeois of this country need a special allocation, a new district can be dedicated to them and not destroy the beauty of the city centre, a national monument like the Maitama Hills.
“Therefore, the committee’s decision on these allocations remain unwavering. A stop-work order must be served by the Department of Development Control and all trees removed must be replaced. The committee demands that 100 per cent of its instructions must be adhered to”, he vowed.
The committee chairman maintained that “the resolutions of the National Assembly are not mere statements, but have constitutional backing”, adding that “this is a government of change, and this is the most proper period to right all administrative wrongs championed by the past administrations”.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Works has queried the Federal Ministry of Works for allegedly dishing out a whooping N4billion to 11 road contractors across the country last year as mobilization fees, even when they did not move to site.
The committee also queried the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN for exempting some vital road networks in the country from votes earmark for road projects in the 2016 budget, vowing to re-jig his list by including the exempted ones.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya ( APC Kano South), who drew attention of committee members to the zero implementation of the 11 affected road contracts, said the minister must explain why the contractors went away with monies given to them without doing anything.
The lawmaker also directed the ministry to feed the committee with details of the contracts awarded in 2015 and their status at a later date.
He said: “11 contractors have collected mobilization fees and there is zero implementation, some collected N500 million, some collected less than that based on records available before us and one of the contractors collected N1 billion.
“For instance in the case of dualisation of Otukpo township road, N1 billion was paid to the contractors. Minister, you need to check that and give us details in the next meeting. There is no point giving a contractor mobilization fee when he cannot perform”.
But in his response , the Minister said not all the contractors who were mobilized had zero performance, saying “in my document, contract performance is not zero”.
He said:”It’s important to take the assessment that the committee has made on mobilization into context. In my document, contract performance is not zero.
My understanding here is that going by the entire contract sum of N9.9 billion, by law, the contractors should get at least 15 percent to move to site.
“The part where we have zero performance in the document, if a contractor was supposed to get N1.5billion as mobilization fee for a contract of N9.9billion, and he got N500 million, he cannot be said to have been mobilised. We will check and get back to you”.
The minister however said that though it was not in his nature to complain from taking responsibilities for whatever happens under his watch, but as minister of less than 100 days, he was not party to the said contracts.
“Things have been done in a manner that we have to just take them as we met them for the country to move forward”, he said.
On the 2016 budget proposal, the committee told the minister that it would re-jig the list of road he presented to them for construction this year with the N268billion budgeted.
According to the committee, aside the ones listed, there are some others, that are vital for urgent construction that are not in the list but which they said, would be injected into it when drafting the final document.
“I appreciate your effort and concern Hon Minister, but we have to know what you are spending every year on the road and how to generate funds and see how we can achieve success”, the chairman said.
Roads listed under the budgeted N268billion for construction are Lagos -Ibadan N50billion, Abuja- Lokoja N10billion, Kano- Maiduguri N16billion, Ilorin/Jebba/Mokwa N6billion, concession of 2nd Niger Bridge N17billion etc.