House of Reps probe N2.4trn contractor payments

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The House of Representatives has said it will probe the N2.4 trillion payment by the Federal Government to local contractors protesting non-payment for jobs executed for the government.

The Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, stated this while speaking with journalists after a meeting with the Association of Indigenous Contractors and top government officials in Abuja.

Kalu, who is also the chairman of the House Ad-hoc Committee on Budget Implementation, said this is necessary to ascertain the identity of contractors who are still protesting alleged non-payment for contracts executed for the federal government.

Consequently, he directed the Accountant General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, to furnish the parliament with details of payments to contractors from the N2.4 trillion approved for that purpose.

The Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, after a protest by local contractors over non-payment for projects executed for the government, had set up the Ad-hoc Committee on Budget Implementation to interface with the stakeholders.

The panel, chaired by Kalu, at a meeting with the contractors and Federal Government officials, including the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, brokered a truce resulting in an agreement to pay 25 percent of the outstanding.

The Deputy Speaker, who disclosed that another meeting with the contractors and the government side has been scheduled for 5 October, said while the parliament is committed to ensuring that contractors get payment for jobs done, the latter must give the government value for money.

Kalu noted that “one of the things I sent them with was my charge to the Accountant General’s office to give us the spreadsheet of those they have paid. We need to see how the government has paid N2.4 trillion, and see people who are still standing on the street saying that the government is not paying.

“How can we pay N2.4 trillion into the system and the same contractors are on the street? So, we want to verify and investigate to know whether these are the people who are paid, or the people who are claiming that they have worked.

“I gave them a charge also: on the part of the government, we are putting the pressure on government to pay up, but on their part, they should ensure that what the government is paying for is a job well done. The government is not paying for a piece of paper or a certificate of completion when the jobs are not done.”