The House of Representatives said it would investigate alleged violation of Public Procurement Act in the engagement of pre-shipment inspection and monitoring of crude oil and gas exports consultant.
This was sequel to a motion by Rep. Babatunde Kolawole (Ondo-APC) which was unanimously adopted by members on Wednesday in Abuja.
Moving the motion earlier, Kolawole said that Pre-Shipment Inspection of Exports Act, Cap P26, LFN, 2004 empowered the President of Nigeria to appoint inspecting agents to carry out pre-shipment inspection.
He said “in June, 2015, the president mandated Federal Ministry of Finance to commence the process of engaging pre-shipment inspectors and monitoring agents and based on approval of Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), selective tendering was adopted.
“In December, 2015, after the selection of 65 companies to participate in the biding stage, the Minister of Finance ordered immediate cancellation of the tendering process on grounds of lack of transparency, accountability and complaint from BPP.
“In furtherance of the above, the Federal Ministry of Finance initiated a fresh tendering process in February, 2016.
“The ongoing tendering has been fraught with alleged abuses by vested interests in Ministry of Finance who are selecting non-responsive companies that do not meet basic requirements as required by the Public Procurement Act.”
The lawmaker expressed concern that if urgent steps were not taken to investigate the allegations, non-responsive and incompetent consultants would be engaged and it would undermine the entire pre-shipment inspection and monitoring process.
According to him, this can lead to significant revenue losses.
Supporting the motion, Minority Leader of the House, Mr Leo Ogor, said that it was sad that companies with issues were getting such important jobs that needed people with capacity.
He said that there was need for thorough investigation of the process, because if the minister of finance was engaging incompetent people as consultants, it will not augur well for the country.
Deputy Leader of the house, Umar Jibril, said that the motion was important and deserved the support of all members.
Another member, Rep. Olusegun Odebunmi (PDP-Oyo) said “it is ironic when you see the people saddled with the responsibility to make things right, compromising.
“We must take the issue of the violation of the law seriously. Things must be done according to laid down rules”.
On his part, Rep. Raphael Nnana (Imo-PDP) called for the inclusion of the House’s Committee on Finance in the investigation.
In his remarks, Speaker of the house, Mr Yakubu Dogara, mandated the Committee on Public Procurement and Finance to investigate the allegations and report back to the House within five weeks. (NAN)