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•National Assembly queries ministry over N2bn project

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Minister of Steel Development, Mr. Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, yesterday assured the nation that the technical audit on the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited will start in February.

The technical audit would pave the way for the for the rehabilitation, completion and operation of the steel plant and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Kogi State, Nigeria.

The Minister gave the assurance when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Steel Development to defend his ministry’s 2024 budget expenditure and the 2025 Appropriation.

The federal government in September last year, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the original builders of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, Messrs, Tyazhpromexport (TPE) and members of their consortium Messrs Novostal M and Proforce Manufacturing Limited, to carry out the technical audit.

This was just as the joint panel queried the Ministry over the sum of N2 billion allegedly meant for a boot camp to train youths in metal works but captured differently in the 2024 budget.

A member of the joint panel, who is the senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District, where the steel project is situated, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, asked the Minister to give a definite date for the commencement of the technical audit.

Akpoti-Uduaghan said, “Hon Minister Can I ask a question, please? When was the MOU entered into? Which month? Can you tell us the month that the MOU on Ajaokuta was entered? “

The Minister responded by telling the panel that the document was signed in September last year.

Akpoti-Uduaghan then wondered why the Ministry hasn’t done anything four months after the MOU was signed.

She said, “We are now approaching the end of January.  When will the technical audit start? When will it start? Because to me, I believe we should tackle that project wholesomely. Yeah. We need to start with a technical audit so that the buildup of repairs will commence immediately.

“Can you tell us when we would expect the Russians with their partners to commence the technical audit because time is going.”

In his response, the Minister said, “I had a conversation with the Permanent Secretary this morning Wednesday) on the commencement date.”

He then directed the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Chris Osa-Isokpunwu to address the panel on the commencement of the technical audit.

Osa-Isokpunwu said, “Immediately after the signing of the MoU, the Ministry commenced the procurement process for the technical and financial audit.

“Advertisements were made, time was given. The stage we are now is in preparation to present it to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.

“Once that presentation is made and the FEC approves that project, then the technical audit will start.”

Not satisfied with the Permanent Secretary’s submission, Akpoti-Uduaghan interjected and demanded a definite date of commencement.

She said, “The FEC meets every week. Are you guaranteeing Nigerians that at the next FEC, the technical audit proposal will be approved?”

The Permanent Secretary replied, “What I would say at this point is that as soon as we get the ‘no objection’ to proceed to the FEC by the Bureau of Public Procurement, we will take the memo to the FEC.

“That will be based on the availability of a slot for the presentation of memos at FEC. I do not run the Secretariat of FEC.

“However, once the Bureau of Public Procurement issues us the certificate of no objection, within 48 hours after, the Minister will transmit the memo to the Secretariat of FEC.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan asked him when the BPP would send the ‘no objection’ to the Ministry and the Permanent Secretary said only the Director General of the BPE, Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi, could answer the question.

Still not satisfied with the answer to her question, Akpoti-Uduaghan said, “How long have you been expecting ‘no objection’ from BPP?”

“I need to know the timeline. How long has it been? Did you just submit the proposal last week? Or last month? Or two months ago? We need to know. Maybe it’s BPP we are going to hold responsible for delay of process.”

Osa-Isokpunwu said, “I’m not familiar with the processes of the Bureau of Public Procurement. We submitted our request for ‘no objection’ about two months ago. So Chairman, I don’t know if I can help you.”

The submission of the Permanent Secretary infuriated members of the joint committee and they accused him of being lackadaisical with his approach to the whole issue.

The Minister quickly came to the rescue of the Permanent Secretary by accepting that the Ministry had been too slow on the matter.

Audu said, “Mr. Chairman and distinguished members, I think the feedback from the joint committee is loud and clear. The speed at which we are going through the process of getting a ‘no objection’ from BPP is too slow.

“I think that is the message that I’m hearing from the committee members. The feedback has been heard very loud and clear. I can assure you that I’ll continue to put the permanent secretary under a lot of pressure for us to get out the ‘no objection’.

“Perhaps, the methods and the way we’ve been following up is inadequate. We are going to put more gas on the pedal to ensure that the ‘no objection’ comes out.

“This is because it’s very important to Nigerians for the technical audit to start, particularly with the original builders and their Nigerian representatives.

“We have a lot more work to do in that regard. The Perm Secretary has heard, and directors of the ministries have heard very loud and clear that the joint committee on steel is unhappy with the pace at which we are processing the ‘no objection’ from BPP. So I want to appeal to your further patience.

“In the next few days, I can assure you that we’re going to ramp up efforts to at least get out the ‘no objection’. Today is the 22nd of January. I believe before the end of the month we will get it.

“I’ll do everything humanly possible to ensure that it comes out so that we can get these things going. So I want to assure you that I’ll put the ministry under pressure. I’ll continue to put the Permanent Secretary under pressure.

“Everybody can hear me. Nigerians can hear me. The directors are all here. The person that liaises with BPP is here. The Permanent Secretary is here. All the most senior memberships are here.

“The pace at which we are getting, we are processing this BPP ‘no objection’ is too slow. We need to bring it out, latest by the end of January and we hope to get the FEC approval immediately.”

Also, the Co-chairman of the panel, queried the Ministry over the sum of N2 billion allegedly meant for a boot camp to train youths in metal works, but captured differently in the 2024 budget.

Abubakar was asked to explain why the project titled Youth Boot Camp Training in advertisement calling for applications from eligible Nigerians was captured differently in the 2024 budget line as “technical support for SMEs for training around foundry production in three geopolitical zones.”

Gimba wondered why a training project captured as technical support for SMEs was advertised by the Ministry as training boot camp for 700 youths.

In her comment, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Steel Development, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, said the action could land the minister in the net of anti-graft agencies as it could be misconstrued as misappropriation.