By Aaron Ossai
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Assets and Special Duties has asked federal government agencies involved in concession agreement to suspend all processes they are involved in until its ongoing probe is concluded.
The Joint House Committee on Public Assets and Special Duties gave this directive during its inaugural investigative hearing on the Performance of Public, Private Partnership Progreammes and Concession Agreements.
This was as the agencies that appeared for the hearing including, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) and National Power Training Institute of Nigeria were told to provide all necessary documents at the next hearing.
Consequently, a member of the Committee, Hon. Saidu Abdullahi (APC, Niger) moved a motion on whether the Committee agree that the concession process should be suspended pending the investigation or not.
“We should put it to them. Let them know that it is a resolution by this Committee that all other pending concession processes be suspended until after this Committee has concluded its work”, he added.
Responding, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Kabir Tukura Ibrahim put the motion for voting and it was unanimously voted in favour of the motion.
“So, anything regarding this concession should be suspended pending the outcome of everything that we are doing here. This goes to all the agencies here present”, he ruled.
While declaring the investigative hearing open, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen said the exercise marked a crucial milestone in the House’s dedication to appraise the efficacy of Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programmes and Concession Agreements from 1999 till the present day.
Represented by his deputy, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, the Speaker said the objective of the investigative hearing is explicit – to meticulously dissect the triumphs, challenges, and overall impact of PPPs and Concession agreements on Nigeria’s public infrastructure and services.
