COVID-19 lockdown: Reps C’ttee probes ministry of agriculture over awards of N18.9bn contacts for clearing of bushes, others

.Contractors shun summons

The Public Account Committee of the House of Representatives Committee, PAC, is probing the awards of contracts valued at the sum of N18.9bn by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for clearing of bush, land preparation, rehabilitation of soil plant lab and others during the total lockdown of the country as a result of the ldeadly COVID-19

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon Woke Oke (PDP- OSUN) disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the resumed investigative hearing of the committee

on queries to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of the federal government by the office of Auditor General of the Federation

Hon Oke assured stakeholders that the Committee would carry out diligent investigation into the matter as it was interested in finding out the location of the projects and the significance of such projects to the country.

Consequently, he said the Committee had

summoned the Ministry and the companies involved to appear before the House for a proper investigation

However, the companies that were supposed to appear before the House on Tuesday were absent without any reason adduced for their absence, he added.

Hon Oke lamented that the companies were excited to “appear before the committee on investigation of contracts awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of roads, bush clearing, land preparation and rehabilitation of soil and plant laboratories vide utilisation of funds from Service Wide vote between 2013 and 2021 totalling N18,924,004,359.38.”

According to him, “during the lockdown of the country as a result of COVID -19, some companies took contract worth about N18 bn for bush clearing from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for land preparation, rehabilitation of soil plant lab and others.we cannot shalve their head in their absence.

“So, we have invited them to come and give us their own side by responding to the issues and show us the places they are supposed to have cleared. They have to take us to the land they cleared.

“We have invited Ministry of Agriculture and they have made submission. But some of our members whose constituencies these projects were supposed to be domiciled doubted the existence of these projects and for fair hearing, we have invited the companies that got the contract for them to come and tell this committee where and when the jobs were executed.

“We will wait till the end of hearing today (Tuesday) to see if they will appear. If they are not here, we will have to do the needful to get them to come.”