The
senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye of the All Progressives Congress,
on Thursday called the attention of the Senate to alleged “monumental fraud” in
the Ministry of Power, Work and Housing headed by Babatunde Fashola.
Mr. Melaye alleged that the Ministry squandered
$385 million on projects not appropriated in the budget between 2013 and 2016.
He said that $300 million of the fund was given
to IBEX while another $35 million was paid to General Electric and some others.
“Mr. President, in line with the
anti-corruption posture of this chamber and especially now that our cries,
observations are yielding dividends as expressly manifested in the case of
Babachir Lawal, today, I bring to the attention of this Senate a monumental
fraud in the power sector.
“In July 2013, the federal Government raised $1
billion from Eurobond issue. From the proceeds, $350 million was given to IBEX
in 2014.
“Mr. President, this money was stolen in
installments. As I speak to you, sometimes last year again, the Ministry of
Power came up with a term they call fast power. This indigested project is
supposed to build new generating plants to add power to our grid.”
He sought the leave of the Senate to present a
substantive motion on the issue while asking questions on how the Ministry
spent the funds it received.
“Mr President, there are few questions we need
to ask and that is why I need the nod of the Senate to bring a substantive
motion to move in the next legislative day.
“These are the few questions: Up to date, there
is no detail to build this new generating plant or a feasibility study, there
is no appropriation by the National Assembly for these projects.
“The Ministry has spent so far $35 million on the Afam fast
power project that has no appropriation or feasibility studies. How and when
was this money appropriated, we need to find out. Out of this money, $29
million was purportedly paid to General Electric for turbines while $6 million
was paid to others.
“These,
among many other monumental frauds, are taking place. We need the Senate to
investigate this.”
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki asked Mr.
Melaye to present the issue as a motion on Tuesday after a voice vote in its
favour.
Mr. Fashola could not be reached Thursday. His
spokesperson, Hakeem Bello, did not respond to telephone calls.
- Premium Times
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