Members of the House of Representatives committee on power during the 6th Assembly collected the sum of N31 million for a capacity building workshop from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and did not attend, chairman of the commission, Dr Sam Amadi said yesterday.
Amadi disclosed this during an interactive session with the House committee on Public Accounts (PAC) yesterday. He said the aide to the chairman of the committee collected the money on behalf of the committee.
PAC had summoned the NERC chairman to appear before it to explain how certain amounts were expended between 2009 and 2010 following queries from the Auditor-General’s office to the effect.
Amadi revealed that the amount was paid in two batches with the first payment being N18 million and the second; N13 million. He said there were official documents to show as evidence.
The Auditor General’s query demanded for an explanation as to why the commission paid $5,000 to a foreign resource person through the ‘black market’ instead of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It also demanded to know why NERC breached due process to buy a 100KVA generator at the sum of N6 million for the Presidential Task Force on Electricity Reform secretariat an amount judged to be over 100 per cent of its market value said to be between N1.5 million and N2.5 million.
Although Amadi admitted the said transactions actually took place as contained in the query, he however added that all the transactions took place before his assumption of office and that he was relying on the available information in the office.
Chairman of the committee, Rep Adeola Solomon Olamilekan (APC, Lagos) said the committee would investigate Amadi’s allegations.
He said: “This is a very serious issue that bothers on a standing committee of the House of Representatives. We are not going to look at it on the surface; we will get to the root of the matter.”
A former member of the power committee at that time, Rep Idris Ahmed (PDP, Kogi) denied the allegations. He said as an active member of the committee at the time, nothing of such came to his notice.
Amadi therefore requested for more time to be able to gather more information and come forward with the relevant documents.
The committee granted his request and directed that he appear with the evidence on Monday, November 11, 2013.
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