By Emmanuel Afonne
The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has demanded a refund of over N14 billion allegedly paid to Hartland Nigeria Limited for work on the Benin-Asaba road corridor.
Rev. David Ugolor, Executive Director, ANEEJ and Publisher of The Common Good Letter, who made the demands at a news conference in Abuja on Monday, said the money should be refunded to the Federal Government.
Ugolor said the demands were aimed at ensuring transparency, accountability and recovery of public funds allegedly committed to the project.
“We are particularly concerned by a recent statement by the Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, that the Federal Government had paid about N14 billion to Hartland, a local firm, for the project.
“The minister also said that only about 40 per cent of the agreed work had been completed.”
Ugolor said the statements raised fundamental questions about the contract, payments, certification and level of work executed.
He stressed that the concerns were not allegations by ANEEJ but issues arising from publicly stated facts by the minister.
“Our concern is that Nigerians are entitled to know exactly how N14 billion was committed, certified, paid and accounted for.
“We must distinguish between the contract value, the amount paid, the amount certified and the actual value of work delivered.”
He said the organisation’s first demand was the publication of the contract documents, including the original Hartland contract, variations, supplementary agreements and the full scope of work.
Ugolor said making the documents public would enable Nigerians to determine the scope, cost, completion period and performance obligations attached to the project.
“The original contract should not be a secret. If citizens do not know the scope of work, how do we measure performance or completion?
“We also demand the publication of the payment trail, including all payment certificates and details of payments made in relation to the project.
“The Federal Ministry of Works should disclose how much was paid, the dates of payments, the certificates against which the payments were made, who certified the work and who approved the payments.
“We also sought disclosure of the amount paid as mobilisation, subsequent payments and any balance that remained recoverable.
“The third demand was for an independent technical verification of the reported 40 per cent completion.”
According to him, an independent assessment is necessary to establish whether the 40 per cent represented physical completion, financial completion, certified quantities, road length completed or a combination of the factors.
“We therefore call for qualified engineers to independently establish what was contracted, what was paid, what was certified, what was delivered and what remains outstanding.
“The fourth demand is for the publication of the status of the Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) and recovery of public funds.”
Ugolor recalled that Umahi had directed officials to call up the APG and write to the relevant banks to refund the money.
He said Nigerians needed to know the bank or institution that issued the guarantee, the amount covered, its expiration date, whether it had been formally called up and how much had been recovered.
“Our main interest is that the job is not done and we want the money to be returned to the treasury.
“The fifth demand is for an investigation into the complete chain of responsibility surrounding the contract.”
Ugolor called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to examine the procurement, contract management, certification, payments, supervision and performance of the project.
“The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Code of Conduct Bureau and other competent authorities should join the probe.
“The investigation should establish who recommended the payments, who certified the work, who supervised the project, who approved variations and who authorised subsequent payments.”
Ugolor welcomed the minister’s directive for an audit of Hartland’s payment records and certificates across its projects but said the exercise should be independently conducted.
“You cannot be a judge in your own case; the review should not remain an internal administrative exercise, given the magnitude of the public interest involved.”
He said ANEEJ was not opposed to enforcement of the law, but warned that arrest alone could not answer questions surrounding the N14 billion.
Ugolor also called for the review of Hartland’s previous performance on Federal Government projects to determine whether its performance history was considered during subsequent procurement processes.
He said ANEEJ was not alleging that procurement laws were violated, but wanted the BPP and Federal Ministry of Works to demonstrate that relevant provisions of the Public Procurement Act were followed.
He said poor infrastructure delivery imposed economic and social costs on Nigerians through increased transportation expenses, vehicle damage, delayed movement of goods and disruption of emergency services.
Ugolor said ANEEJ had already submitted petitions to the EFCC, ICPC, BPP, Code of Conduct Bureau and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
“The Benin-Asaba road corridor is too important to become another unresolved infrastructure story,” he said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Chijioke Okoronkwo