The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, has dismissed alleged payment of N151 million to a firm for a road rehabilitated by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Osun state.
This is as the church apologised to the ministry for not following due process in executing the project but insisted whatever money paid to the contractor should be refunded to the coffers of the federal government.
Fashola made the dismissal Wednesday in Abuja while appearing before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, probing the allegation.
He specifically said the claim by the church was not based on evidential facts by explaining that the 15 kilometer long road was awarded to Messrs Cartil Construction Nigeria Limited at the cost of N662.7 million by the Federal Government in 2011.
He said the Ministry paid N99million as 15 per cent mobilization fee and N52million to the contractor after the firm achieved 26.2 per cent of work on the road in March and December 2011, respectively.
He insisted that the award of the contract and payments to the contractor predated President Muhammdu Buhari’s administration and his (Fashola’s) appointment as a minister.
The project he added, was abandoned because there were times when no money was budgeted for it .
“This is a petition, on the basis of what has been shown, that could have been resolved by a simple letter written on the Freedom of Information Act but in spite of the fact that you gave this out to Nigerians, the petitioner chose to come here, go to the pages of newspapers and essentially put our collective integrity as a ministry and as a government under needless scrutiny.
“The facts have shown that there is no basis for this. The allegations as reported are essentially false.
“They border
defamatory and I hope that the petitioner after listening to this will do the right thing and tender an apology. I think he got his facts all mixed up”, he said.
He explained further that “the contract in respect of the road was awarded five years before the Buhari Administration, specifically on 21 December 2010 to Messrs Cartill Construction Nigeria Limited in the sum of N662,760,771.75 with a commencement date of 7 March 2011 and a completion date of 7 November 2011.”
In response to the petition, Fashola insisted that it is clear that contrary to the claims of the RCCG: “The contractor, Cartill Construction Nigeria Limited, did not make a claim for a refund for the cost expended on the rehabilitation of the road between 2016 and 2019. He said: “The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing did not make any payment to Cartill Construction Nigeria Limited as a refund for the construction of the road between 2016 and 2019. “The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing did not certify any work done on the road by the Contractor between 2016 and 2019. “The two payments made to Cartill Construction Nigeria Limited were made on 31 March 2011 and 29 December 2011 respectively, four (4) years before the commencement of this Administration in 2015. “The road in question is not a Federal Road under the Federal Highways Act. It is a state road under the constitutional and administrative jurisdiction of the Osun State Government. “The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing did not consider or grant approval for anyone to intervene on the road.
“The petitioner, RCCG, did not seek or obtain the approval of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing prior to or during the rehabilitation of the Road. “As at 2010 when the contract for the road was awarded by the Federal Government, it was initiated as Parliamentary Constituency Project and domiciled in the budget of the Ministry, hence the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. “The Federal Government via the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing is not liable to make any refund to anyone in respect of the Road which is the statutory responsibility of the Osun State Government. “The Legal Department of the Ministry is in the process of commencing legal actions against the Contractor for breach of the agreed terms of contract between it and the Ministry.” He consequently urged the Committee to hold that: “The Ministry has acted at all material times in accordance with and in consonance with its statutory mandate and is not liable to the Petitioner or any other party in the circumstances of this petition.
“There is no proof to support the position that an unjust claim was made by the Contractor or paid by the Ministry between 2016 and 2019. “The payments made to the Contractor were made in 2011 in accordance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act on mobilization fee not exceeding 15% of the contract sum. “There is no basis for this petition by way of facts or evidence; and a request made to the Ministry by the Petitioner under the Freedom of Information Act would have avoided the cost of this hearing and saved taxpayers’ funds”, he insisted.
However, the RCCG represented by Pastor Niyi Adebanjo, apologised to Fashola and the Ministry of Works and Housing for not following due process in rehabilitating the road and failure to seek clarification from the Ministry before writing a petition to the Senate on the matter.
Adebanjo however insisted that the firm must be made to refund any money it has collected from the Federal Government on account of the said road.
Adebanjo said: “I like to state very clearly that the core of this petition is not against the Ministry of Works and Housing.
“The basis for this petition is to call Nigerians to the corruption that is going on especially on road construction in this country.
“When Pastor E.A. Adeboye intervened, it was because his people called him. That road became a den of thieves and kidnappers. And when he was summoned, of course, we have a part to apologize for, for not going through proper procedure for the intervention.
“But the point being made is that Cartil Construction Nigeria Limited should be made to refund (money paid to it)”, he said.
