N323bn Road Contract: House C’tee Queries N’Delta Ministry for Withholding Documentation

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives has expressed displeasure at the refusal of the Ministry of Niger Delta to submit all contractual agreements, procurement documents and financial details regarding the N323 billion contract for the dualisation of the East-West Road, Rivers State.

The committee, at an investigative hearing with the officials of the Ministry, berated the officials for deliberately withholding the documents of the contract, particularly those related to fund releases, and outstanding payments, after claiming at an earlier meeting that the documents were ‘available’.

The officials were issued a 48 hour ultimatum to submit all the requested documents, with 40 copies for each member of the committee, chaired by Hon. Kingsley Chinda (Rivers PDP).

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. William Nwankwo Alo, however told the committee members that the documents cannot be re-produced, in the time limit as the ministry does not have power supply.

“As I speak with you, there is no light in the ministry with which to reproduce the documents for you in 48 hours. We will therefore plead for two weeks, considering the volume of the documents you are asking for and their quality. It is not something we do in a hurry. “