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The Adhoc committee probing the multi-billion naira railway contracts yesterday threatened to arrest the former Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) over the N19 billion contract awarded to Eser Nigerian Limited.
According to the documents obtained from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the contract which was awarded by the Corporation in 2011 was not approved by Federal Executive Council (FEC) and BPP.
A source who spoke on the workings of the Committee also disclosed that the company was not registered as at April 2011 when the contract was awarded by the Corporation, according to records obtained from Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
He added that the company however submitted its certificate of incorporation, three months after the award of the contract and did not provide any tax payment evidence during the budding process.
To this end, the committee has resolved to issue a bench warrant on Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and officials of four commercial banks that failed to submit details of monies transferred to the companies involved in the rail contract scandal.
“There was no evidence of tax payments and the company participated in the bidding process in April. As we speak the company has not appeared in any of the committee’s investigative hearings since last year.
“We’ve sent mails to the address they gave the committee and several letters and till date no response. We don’t want to jump to the conclusion that probably it’s a ghost company until the committee exhausts all avenues but our patience is fast running out.
“It also appears as if the banks are concealing information of how the monies were paid and this is not good for democracy,” a member of the Committee said.
While speaking on the development, Johnson Agbonayinma (PDP-Delta), chairman of the adhoc committee investigating the railway project, confirmed plans to issue a bench warrant on all the banks that made payments to the various companies that executed the rail contracts.
“Within the next two weeks the interim report of the adhoc committee will be submitted but till date the CBN and 4 commercial banks have deliberately refused to submit details of all the transaction.
“We requested for their statements concerning the companies involved but outside two banks that obliged us last week others declined.
“As we enter the last quarter of the year we don’t really have a choice than to get them arrested. The committee has issued several warnings to the Banks since last March and we can’t continue waiting in vain”.
According to the committee, Ecobank, First Bank, Sterling Bank and Skye Bank are yet to submit details of money transferred to the companies.
The House had in November 2015 constituted an Adhoc Committee to look into all rail contracts of over N1trn from 2011 till 2014.
