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Rt. Hon. Dennis Amadi (PDP-Enugu) was appointed chairman, Ad-hoc Committee assigned to investigate accrued interests from the sale of power assets involving some banks and operators. In this interview with KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Amadi, a certified engineer speaks on various issues ranging from Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, series of court injunctions cum interference with Legislative activities to the agenda before his Ad-hoc Committee which kick-starts this week. Excerpts:
As a certified engineer and legislator, what was the underlying factor that prompted the House’s intervention in the resuscitation of Ajaokuta Steel Company?
Well, if you remember at the inception of this 8th Assembly, we had to draw a legislative agenda to intervene on some critical sectors of the economy to move Nigeria forward and this Assembly as ably led by Speaker Yakubu Dogara, a man who has the passion to move Nigeria forward economically and to bring sanity to the system; in terms of corporate governance and every other thing you can think of.
Having said that, part of the revival issue is to get the low hanging fruits and when you talk of that Ajaokuta specifically is at the nerve centre of the recovery of our economy both for the immediate and in the long run.
Ajaokuta is the centre that will interface with various sectors of our economy to automobile to manufacturing which ever sector you can think of and because of the comparative advantage we have as a country, where the bulk of the raw material is within reach at Itakpe iron ore at Itakpe. It has been a colossal loss to the country that has the potential to be a major exporter of steel to still be dependent on importation of steel both quality and substandard we receive in our markets today.
It is at the heart beat of everyone of us at the House of Representatives to ensure that we put on record, a turnaround of that sector and you know as being projected by the minister that Ajaokuta is 98 percent completed and we cannot just wish-away that mileage which has been achieved over the years. So in line with that, you keep hearing the issue of conception upon conception it has become a recurring decimal in the turnaround of that plant and from one company to the other and from one tying up a project to the other and what is the sector that is bearing the brunt? Nigerians are the ones losing.
So because of that, the Speaker had embarked on oversight in February, and on the spot assessment was done. And he got information beyond what is being read on the papers and insight into what the issues are and the way forward.
How will you describe the refusal of some ministers to appear before relevant Standing Committees to defend the 2018 Budget proposals?
This is people’s parliament and a country being governed by Constitution and from what happened when the ministers were invited that the House then passed a vote of no confidence in the ministers and today’s plenary, some other issues have come on the table.
The issue of relationship with companies at the centre of the concession, especially the consultants that are being highlighted to be in touch with the auditing and the processes involving that concession; where such is being alleged that such companies have been indicted in some other countries, for issue of integrity test, issue of corporate governance.
Also, it was being mentioned that one of the companies being mentioned has a cross relationship in terms of being mentioned to have executed one of the two projects undertaken when the current Minister of Steel was in charge of his home state. So in view of the additional information that came up today, it became additional information to the committee that has been set up to investigate that matter.
But the major point you have taken home today is the resolution that Ajaokuta is not that due for concession and what we should be talking about is to complete the project and now plan on the management of the project and partnership with well acknowledged managers of steel plants.
How ready is the House and indeed the National Assembly to appropriate as much as $1.5 billion for the completion of the Steel company as alluded to by the experts invited to speak at the sectorial debate?
Absolutely, we have the capacity to raise the fund. The revenue base of the government in terms of the internally generated revenue is improving daily and people are having more awareness in terms of tax issues, both as individuals and corporate entities; if not for anything, to grow Nigerian economy.
It will take Nigeria 20 years to achieve the mileage that has been so far achieved in Ajaokuta more than 15 to 20 years ago as a matter of fact. It is a rare feat for any country in Africa to achieve that mileage. So in terms of raising $2 billion to revive that plant, it is something our government should be able to do. You have a lot of funds tied here and there that can be injected in Ajaokuta and get people employed-direct l and indirect labour in terms of market outreach and multiplier effect to boost the economy.
If you remember that part of the issue we have today that has derailed the take off of Ajaokuta is the issue of we being compelled to use substandard steel. You see buildings collapse and we lose human beings and casualties at work site. This is as a result of the quality of steel being used in construction. You see Nigerians going to use iron or metal that corrosion has taken over, cans of drinks and different kinds of things that end up in melting companies that are scattered all over the country. That cannot even achieve 20 percent of quality steel for the Nigerian economy.
But if Ajaokuta had been on board, we would have been a regional hub for Africa; we should even be able to supply steel beyond Africa.
But what’s your take on the allegation that the Federal Government is being held down on the project by some external influence?
I wouldn’t say there is an external force but if you look at why my colleagues are directing their energies on the Minister, it is on record that the quality of companies coming for this giant project to be conceded to them to manage that they do not have the capacity and technical knowledge, financial and managerial ability of any sort to manage the plant of that size. So it is not the issue of external influence, but it is an issue of scope. When we are also appointing people into sectors that are critical to our economy, we should also profile such persons to ensure they have the depth of knowledge and the passion to manage those ministries.
It is the issue of passion; I refer specifically to the Ministry that is in charge of that process, if they have the requisite qualifications and insight of the projection of what this will do to our economy, I am sure they will have a change of mind in their thinking.
How will you assess this administration’s policy on economic diversification?
One thing is to have theoretical projection of that diversification and another thing is to have a political will to ensure that it is done effectively. When we talk of the diversification, we have achieved a little growth in the agric sector. But the way it is today, we have not been able to structure the interventions in agriculture to get to the root of the basic people. It does not filter down the line of peasant farmers, middle tier farmers, retail farmers that are within and all over Nigeria. They are not getting these benefits that are coming, in terms of intervention, grant and any social measure that government has to improve the lives of the citizens.
What are the underlying factors fuelling the rancour between the Legislature and the Judiciary, as it relates to the recurring cases of court orders?
We believe there are three arms of government: the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive. It is the duty of the Parliament to make laws and amend laws. So if there is an abuse of court processes, that tries to derail any arm of government from carrying out its statutory duties, that will be very inimical to our democracy.
I don’t think that a Court will have right to tell a Parliament what they should do and what they should not do in terms of making laws for the interest of Nigerians.
What’s your schedule for the assignment given by the House to probe allegations bordering on recovery of accrued interests from sales of power assets during the last administration?
The Committee was mandated to carry out investigation on alleged suppression on remittance of interest accrued on the sale of Power Holding Company that has been privatised or sold on the floor of the House.
I had moved a motion asking for investigation into the suppression of interest element attached to volumes of billions of naira. It actually affected some few banks playing within our country and as a Committee, we have just been appointed by the leadership and effective from next week, we will begin to put our acts together to take-off.
The fulcrum of our mandate as a Committee is to investigate the alleged non-remittance of accrued interest due on the proceeds of sales of assets of Power Holding, the GENCOs and the DISCOs. There are specific banks where these proceeds were deposited by the buying public.
