House of Reps query NPA over N5.1bn renovation contract
- The House of Representatives raises concerns over a contact awarded at the cost of N5.1 billion for the renovations of the corporate headquarters of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos
- The House committee on public accounts led by its chairman, Woke Oke, explains that there was no valid signed contractual agreement in place for the contract
- Oke asks the NPA to make available the original copies of the signed agreement
The House of Representatives has queried the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over a contact awarded at the cost of N5.1 billion for the renovations of its corporate headquarters in Lagos.
The House committee on public accounts led by its chairman, Woke Oke, at an investigative hearing on Thursday, December 19, faulted the NPA management and its managing director, Hadiza Bala-Usman, over the contractual agreement, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The Reps query alleged that there was no valid signed contractual agreement in place as of 2013, when the contract ought to have been completed and money paid out.
The NPA boss, Bala-Usman, however, said that the contract was awarded by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) with records that showed a valid signed contractual agreement.
The committee chairman, however, expressed concern over the contractual agreement and insisted that the NPA make available the original copies of the signed agreement.
He said the photocopies of the documents were not clear enough to be read.
Oke explained that the original copies of the agreement were the only way to clear the organisation of the audit query.
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The auditor-general of the federation had raised a query on the contract awarded in 2011 over the contract. The contract had a completion period of 15 months, but without a valid signed contractual agreement with the contracting firm.
It was awarded for the renovations of the NPA Headquarters in Lagos and the relocation of some of the offices from the headquarters to other locations.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed that the plan by the National Assembly to spend N37 billion for the renovation of its complex is a final confirmation of the corruption level in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP further alleged that the budget for the renovation of the National Assembly complex is simply an "unpardonable rip-off plot and a last straw of the brazen corruption that pervades the current administration."
In a statement by the national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, such budget which it claimed is bloated cannot be defended, especially knowing that the complex was constructed with N7 billion.
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