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Probe Payment on Railway
Contract – Nigerians Tell Obasanjo
Lagos Wednesday 5 2001: The
recent payment of the sum of $52.69 million (N58.69) billion by President
Obasanjo to a Chinese construction which handled the contract to revive
the railway, has come under severe condemnation from Nigerians. According
to them, the payment, which was facilitated by the Transport Minister Ojo
Maduekwe, despite alleged shortcomings in the execution of the contract,
was devoid of transparency and not in tandem with the anti-corruption
crusade of President Obasanjo. The condemnation came against the backdrop
of reports that there was no certification through a competent consultant
that the job had been completed.
Nigerians, therefore, called for a probe into the contract
and payment, and said where fraud may have been perpetrated, the monies
should be retrieved and those involved prosecuted.
These were the opinion of most Nigerians in a public poll
recently conducted by Media Rights Agenda under its Executive Watch
project. The survey was conducted in eight cities in various
geo-political regions of the country. The cities include Lagos, Ibadan,
Benin City, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano and the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja. It polled Nigerians of various works of life from the
age of 18 years, irrespective of the educational qualification.
In Nigeria, the history of rail transportation dates back
to over years. At the beginning, the sub-sector was efficiently managed
and operated that it gained the respect and confidence of Nigerians. But
over the years, specifically after the country-attained independence, rot
began to set in. This rot reaches an abysmal level that it made nonsense
of the proud history. For this reason, some administrations have made
efforts to revive rail transportation in the recent past, all of which
have failed to yield any fruit. For instance the General Babangida regime
committed over N2 Billion to the corporation. General Sani Abacha, in a
single move to revive the moribund sub-sector, entered into a N45 billion
contracts in 1995 with the Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction
company. The contracts were to repair the rail tracks, reduce gradients,
eliminate sharp corners, refurbish and procure additional coaches, and to
supply 50 Locomotive engines. Before the end of the regime, no success
was recorded.
President Obasanjo recently paid the sum of $52.69 million
(N58.69 billion) to the Chinese construction company, which was
facilitated by the Transport Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe. The payment
was made allegedly with a certification that the job has been done through
a competent consultant. The Chinese company claimed to have achieved a 95
per cent job completion, a claim which is not validated by evidence on the
grounds.
In fact, the Transport Minister told the Senate Transport
Committee, on inquiry, that out of the 50 locomotives supplied by the
Chinese company, only 10 were working. He further explained that “this
was largely due to lack of spare parts, which did not accompany the
locomotives when they were supplied”. When the Senate committee
probed him further, he reportedly said that since the contract had
received president blessing, he was not obliged to answer further
questions.
Some Nigerians, besides the Senate transport committee,
have criticized the minister and President Obassnjo. They say that the
payment, given the alleged shoddy job, was devoid of transparency and not
in tandem with the anti-corruption crusade of the President. But other
people have also argued that the President could not have done otherwise
because a previous government entered into the contract and the present
government was obliged to accept the liability.
Specifically, out of the 7,284 respondents polled in the
survey, 5,582 (76.6% said they did not support the Federal Government
payment to the Chinese Construction Company while 1,648 (22.6%) supported
the payment, despite alleged numerous shortcomings in the execution of the
contract.
On the question whether respondents support the argument
that the Federal Government had to pay the Chinese construction company
given that the contract was subject to accepting the liability, 2334
(32.1%) respondents said ‘Yes’, while 4,639 (32.1%) said ‘No’.
Responding to the question, which asked respondents whether
they support the view that the government should gave revoked the contract
3,533 (76.2%) respondents, said ‘Yes’, while 1.050 (22.6%) respondents
said ‘No’. Fifty-six respondents (1.2%), however, were undecided.
Lastly, asked whether respondents support the view that the
contract and payment be proved and where fraud may have been perpetrated,
the monies are retrieved and those involved prosecuted 6,194 (85%)
representing the majority said ‘yes’, while 1,090 (15%) respondents said
‘No’.
Contact:
Ademoyewa Johnson
Campaigns Officer
Tel/Fax: 01-4930831
E-mail: pubs@mediarightsagenda.org |
