The Senate has ordered an investigation into the N30 trillion ways and means facility disbursed in the last administration.
The committee is chaired by Sen Jibrin Isah (Kogi East) while Sen Ekpeyong Asuquo, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Victor Umeh, Olamilekan Adeola, Sani Musa, Aliyu Wadada, Abdul Ningi, Ipalibo Banigo and Banigo Harry, are members
The ad-hoc committee was given four weeks to turn in their report for legislative debate on how the N30 trillion was disbursed.
This followed the adoption of the resolution of last Tuesday on the need to probe the Ways and Means spending during the former President Buhari’s administration.
The Ways and Means is an overdraft taken directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria to solve contingency needs of the nation following approval and directive by the executive arm of government which would have to be ratified by the parliament.
The upper legislative chamber also commenced investigation into the affairs of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Kogi State from 2008 to date.
The Senate is to unravel the mystery behind the payment of $496m allegedly made to Mr. Pramod Mittal, chairman, Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd (GINL) by the federal government in September 2022 as settlement over contractual disputes.
The Senate, it was gathered, is conducting a holistic investigation into the circumstances that led to the re-concession of NIOMCO even when the initial Concession Agreement was validly terminated by the Yar’adua Administration with positive review by the International Chamber of Commerce, London.
This followed a motion sponsored by the Senator representing Kogi Central, Sen Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan
However, last week’s debate on Ways and Means snowballed into confusion and rowdy session when the motion was raised without details of how the fund was spent, a development that infuriated Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South Senatorial district) who insisted that details of Ways and Means must be provided according to parliamentary rules.
In his remark before announcing membership of the Committee, the Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who presided over the plenary in the absence of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, lamented alleged reckless spending that had caused inflation in the country.
He urged the committee to do a thorough job with a view to recovering the fund.
He said: “According to statistics, broad money supply, which is a key parameter for key inflationary trends, increased from N78.3 trillion to 78.4 trillion in 2023, the highest ever recorded in Nigeria. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Ways and Means which provides direct lending to the Federal Government of Nigeria causes unprecedented liquidity in the economy and the current inflationary pressure that we are experiencing.
“The financial obligation to the CBN now stands at N30 trillion. The inability to repay this temporary accommodation by the Federal Government of Nigeria led to the regularisation of a 40-year-loan at nine percent interest per annum.
“By implication, this debt will appear in the balance sheet of CBN for the next 40 years until liquidated. It is therefore imperative to interrogate the loans of the N30 trillion Ways and Means with a possibility of recovering whatever possible.”
$496m Payment: Senate Investigates Ajaokuta Steel NIOMCO
Meanwhile, on the probe of Ajaokuta Steel and NIOMCO, Sen Adeniyi Ayodele Adegbonmire is to be the chairman of the investigative panel while Kawu Suleiman is to be the deputy chairman.
Other members of the committee are Sen Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central), Onawo Mohamed (Nasarawa South) Sen Joel Onowakpa (Delta), Sen Onyesoh Allwell Heacho (Rivers East), Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi North), Sen Patrick Chukwuba Ndubueze (Imo North), Senator Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos East) and Osita Ngwu (Enugu West).
While the committee is to report back to the Senate in two weeks, they are also to invite and interface with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and other critical stakeholders in the steel sector, especially those with interest in Ajaokuta Steel Manufacturing Plant and NIOMCO to obtain relevant information and submit a comprehensive report to the Senate regarding the affairs of the two steel plants between 2018 and now.
The Senate is also urging the federal government to review extant policies and laws on steel development in Nigeria with a view to adopting a strategic implementation Plan on Steel Development in Nigeria bearing in mind the importance of steel to Nigeria’s quest for industrialisation and economic self-reliance.
It also wants to conduct an investigation into alleged incidence of corruption and inefficiency at the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and NIOMCO.
This followed a motion sponsored by Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan, Natasha (Kogi Central).
She said the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCI) and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) located in Kogi State were established sometime in the late 70s by the Federal Government with a potential to put Nigeria on the path of technological and industrial advancement, and establish the country as one of the leading exporters of steel products in the world.
She lamented that decades after their establishment, the Ajaokuta steel mill and NIOMCO have remained inoperative and unable to produce steel despite efforts by several administrations due to lack of earnest political will and bureaucratic corruption.
She recalled that as of 1994 when the Tyazurom export (TPE) exited the Ajaokuta Steel Plant on alleged ground that Nigeria did not discharge fully its financial obligation to the TPE, the Ajaokuta Steel Plant was reportedly at 98 percent completion yet it remains inoperative to date.
She recalled that sometime in 2001, Nigeria’s hope to have the Ajaokuta Steel Plant completed and put into operation was rekindled following the signing of the Bilateral Agreement between Nigeria and the Russian Federation which was unfortunately diminished following the surreptitious concessioning of NIOMCO and ASCL in June 2003 to unqualified Solgas Energy Limited, a company that lacked both financial and technical expertise as it was uncovered never to be in the business of ore and steel.
She noted that contrary to the recommendation of the House Committee on Steel in 2004 that Solgas Energy Limited should partner with TPE which has the financial and technical expertise to complete and operate the ASCL and NIOMCO complexes, Solgas Energy Limited instead opted for partnership with another inept company, the Global Steel Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GINL) of India (a.k.a Global Steel Holdings Limited). GINL was alleged to have completely run down not only ASCL and NIOMCO but the Delta Steel Company.
She further stated that upon consideration of the Inuwa Magaji Administrative Panel of Inquiry Report into the GINL’s operations of ASCI, NIOMCO and Delta steel mills, the Federal Executive Council under the leadership of the late President Umaru Yar’adua unanimously terminated the Concession Agreement on 2 April, 2008, citing breach of agreement and unwholesome practices including the fact that the said Concession Agreement was unpatriotically skewed in favour of GINL;
She further observed that the House of Representative had in the past investigated the Iron and Steel Sector in Nigeria in 2018 with far reaching resolutions aimed at resuscitating the ASCL and NIOMCO steel mills but such resolutions were either ignored or are yet to be implemented by the federal government.”
She reported that GSHL’s Pramod Mittal is notorious for dubious and questionable business activities with governments of many steel producing countries from the $253m organised economic crimes in India to embezzlement and asset stripping in Bulgaria, Philippines, Libya, Bosnia, Zimbabwe, Montenegro, Serbia and many more.
She feared that while Bosnia arrested and charged GSHL’s Pramod Mittal with organised crime and Bulgaria jailed GSHL’s management staff for economic crimes, Nigeria may have yet again fallen victim to GINL Pramod’s sharp contract fraud in respect of the payout of $496 million in 2022.
“This comes years after a comical re-concessioning of NIOMCO to the same GINL in August 2016. These were sadly facilitated by unpatriotic Nigerians occupying trusted government offices,” she said.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed worry that Nigeria currently expends about $3.3 billion annually on steel imports in a nation blessed with abundant natural ore resources yet plagued by moribund Ajaokuta and Delta steel that have become conduit pipes for diversion of public funds at the expense of Nigerian tax payers.
She said there exists an abnormal management structure at the Ajaokuta Steel Complex whereby a sole administrator has unilaterally decided upon the steel mill’s corporate affairs for the past 12 years.
“This has further worsened the inefficiency of the moribund company with the recently queried N33 billion electricity debt by President Tinubu,” she said.
While the Senate set up the investigative panel, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over plenary, commended her for bringing up the motion.
He said the motion will help in bringing more revenue to the government and also help in producing the iron rods that will help in building infrastructure in the country.
Speaking, Sen Solomon Adeola said salaries and wages of staff of moribund companies are just being paid in billions of naira, stressing the need to reposition the Ajaokuta steel company and make it function optimally due to the value it will add to the steel market.
On his part, Sen Sani Musa said Ajakuta steel company has been moved from one fraudulent contractor to another, insisting that the investigation will help unravel so much fraud in the companies.
