Muhammad Bello, Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FACT) has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee to review the abandoned N61 billion Katampe District engineering Infrastructure project and make recommendations within six weeks.
While inaugurating the ‘Inter-Ministerial Committee on contract and financial audit of the PPP Project for the development of engineering infrastructure for Katampe district, Abuja,’ chaired by Zanna Baba-Gana,a former retired Permanent Secretary, Bello expressed disappointment, that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project which commenced on the 17th January 2012 and scheduled to last 36 months was yet to be completed over three years after.
“It is disappointing that as at 16th January 2015 when all construction works ought to have been completed, the project achieved only 16.4 percent completion and the developer suspended construction works at the site since December 2014.
“The expectation was that this pioneer FCTA PPP Project would be completed within 36 month. Regrettably, that initial high hope has been dashed, as the success of the project has been considerably undermined by crisis of performance,” the Minister lamented.
Bello, therefore, charged the Committee to review the extent of compliance with the obligations and the processes of the PPP Contract Agreement by the FCTA/FCDA, the Developer, Lenders, the Independent Engineer, the PPP Consultant, ICRC and other government agencies with reference to the technical and financial performances.
The Committee is to also establish the extent of interventions by relevant government agencies with respect to the monitoring of the PPP Contract, establish any shortcomings in the performance of the PPP Contract in the course of the review and make appropriate recommendations on the way forward.
The Minister, however, clarified that the project audit is not intended for witch-hunting, but rather a fact-finding exercise designed to assist the FCT Administration to diagnose the problems that have threatened the success of the PPP project, with a view to identifying appropriate solutions and ensuring successful completion.
He said that members were carefully selected on the bases of their competences, commitment, integrity and track records; adding that the FCT Administration is confident that they will undertake a thorough and fair contract and financial audit.
In his remarks, Babatope Ajakaiye, fct permanent secretary explained that the 16-member Committee were drawn from Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, Bureau of Public Procurement, the Federal Ministry of Justice and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Others include: representatives of office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Auditor-General of the Federation and the Debt Management Office as well as officials of the FCTA.
He expressed confidence that the Committee Chairman, Zanna Baba-Gana, whom he described as being of indisputable reputation, will do a good job and make useful recommendations.
In his acceptance speech, Zanna Baba-Gana assured that the Committee would find solution to the problem since the Committee is fact finding.
Baba-Gana further assured that the Committee would work diligently and honestly to enable the FCT Administration re-start the project and achieve its aim.
