Sections
Poll: Power pledge
Is Mr. President's promise of additional 6,000 MW of electricity in 18 months achievable?
Due process waived for payments on NIPP contracts, says Okonjo-Iweala
Font size:
Okonjo-Iweala
Former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday told the House of Representatives committee on power and steel investigating the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) contracts that former President Olusegun Obasanjo approved the request by Liyel Imoke, former minister of power, to waive due process requirement in the payments to contractors.
Okonjo-Iweala, the managing director of World Bank, said the request for waivers came because she had sought to use the due process certificate because she needed the document to follow lay down procedures.She tol the committee that only the sum of $857 million was paid by her on NIPP contracts between2005 and 2006.
She spoke of the need for the committee to properly investigate the matter and apportion blames on the right quarters by ensuring that people are held responsible for their actions.
“I too would like to know what were the results of the money spent on NIPP and whether it was commensurate with the funding. When I arrived this morning, we had to recourse to generator so I want the committee to make sure that accountability is put where it lies. I have heard many things said, but I want the committee to make sure that no mischief is meant,” she said.
The World Bank chief explained that while she was the minister of finance from June 2003 to July 2006 she did not participate in the award of any contract or tendering for any project, denying knowledge of any extra payments to contractors handling any of the NIPP projects.
“No minister of finance gives out money so I didn’t give out money because it is not my job. The ministry of finance is in charge of preparing the budget and disbursing money. One of the things we tried to do was to make the processes clear because there was no clear cut process when I got there” she said.
On the money borrowed by the Federal Government from the excess crude oil account to finance the NIPP, Okonjo-Iweala said she acted on instruction and with the intention that those monies would be paid back when the NIPP is privatised.
According to her, the idea of the NIPP was borne out of genuine desire to use the gas being flared in the Niger Delta to generate electricity.
She also told the committee that she did not attend most of the meetings of the presidential committee on NIPP because she was engaged on the campaign for debt relief for the country at the time. The campaign took her out of the country most of the time.
The former minister advised that the committee to go the extra mile and look at the technical aspect of power generation and distribution in the country so as to get to the root of the saga. “That is just as important as knowing where the money goes.” she said.
“As a concerned Nigerian, I would like to know whether the project was properly sited” said Okonjo-Iweala.
Add to:
del.icio.us |
Digg
del.icio.us |
Digg
Email to a friend
Print version
Plain textRate this article
Comments ( posted):
Post your comment