The Deputy Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Philip Agbese, has raised concerns about the reported plan by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, to import construction equipment worth €1.2 million for the repair of the Eko Bridge in Lagos State.
Umahi, during a working visit to various bridges in Lagos State, had announced the government’s intention to import €1.2m worth of construction equipment to facilitate the rehabilitation of the Eko Bridge.
Agbese, while discussing the executive and legislative relationship on MaxFM in Lagos, expressed doubts about the Minister’s role in importing the equipment.
He argued that the Minister should not be personally involved in procuring equipment for bridge repair, raising concerns about transparency, efficiency, and adherence to relevant laws.
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He stated “As lawmakers with oversight functions, we find it shocking that The Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi is talking about importing equipment to fix Eko Bridge. That singular declaration set off alarm bells.
“There are so many questions. Is the equipment for only Eko Bridge or it can be repurposed to fix other bridges in need of repairs? Is the €1.2m for the equipment captured in the budget and properly appropriated? Why is he the one importing the equipment for a bridge that has either been or would be awarded to a contractor? Is that exercise the best use of government time and taxpayers’ money? Will the proposed importation comply with the Procurement Act? Is there compliance with extant legislation of the land? These are just a few of the questions that the Minister has to answer.
“More importantly, the Minister being a former governor of Ebonyi state, I think it is time someone told him that the Federal level runs with the requisite checks and balances among the three arms of government so he cannot run that Ministry the way he managed his state. He has to see to it that things are done the right way and becoming a procurement officer, contractor, consultant, and minister all at the same time is not the way things are done at this level.
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“First, he should come clean on the procurement processes and understand that as a minister he is not a contractor. The Minister should then retrace his steps to ensure that whatever he is doing is properly appropriated for, following which he should ensure that he does not engage in activities that constitute a distraction to the job he has at hand,
“Nigerians do not want to see a situation where stories will be flying about how someone illegally enriched themselves by becoming an emergency contractor. And we know such stories usually emanate after the office holder must have been done with his tenure. Engineer Umahi should spare the country such a horror show,” Hon. Agbese stated.
