BusinessDay 08 Apr 2018

22
C002D5556
Sunday 08 April 2018
Politics
‘Nigeria has capacity to inject $2bn
for completion of Ajaokuta Steel’
Rt. Hon. Dennis Amadi (PDP-Enugu) was appointed chairman, Ad-hoc Committee assigned to investigate accrued interests
from the sale of power assets involving some banks and operators. In this interview with KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Amadi, a
certified engineer speaks on various issues ranging from Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, series of court injunctions cum
interference with Legislative activities to the agenda before his Ad-hoc Committee which kick-starts this week. Excerpts:
As a certified engineer and legislator,
what was the underlying factor that
prompted the House’s intervention
in the resuscitation of Ajaokuta Steel
Company?
Well, if you remember at
the inception of this
8th Assembly, we had
to draw a legislative
agenda to intervene
on some critical sectors of the economy
to move Nigeria forward and this Assembly
as ably led by Speaker Yakubu
Dogara, a man who has the passion to
move Nigeria forward economically and
to bring sanity to the system; in terms of
corporate governance and every other
thing you can think of.
Having said that, part of the revival
issue is to get the low hanging fruits and
when you talk of that Ajaokuta specifically
is at the nerve centre of the recovery
of our economy both for the immediate
and in the long run.
Ajaokuta is the centre that will interface
with various sectors of our economy
to automobile to manufacturing which
ever sector you can think of and because
of the comparative advantage we have
as a country, where the bulk of the raw
material is within reach at Itakpe iron
ore at Itakpe. It has been a colossal loss
to the country that has the potential to
be a major exporter of steel to still be
dependent on importation of steel both
quality and substandard we receive in
our markets today.
It is at the heart beat of everyone of us
at the House of Representatives to ensure
that we put on record, a turnaround
of that sector and you know as being projected
by the minister that Ajaokuta is 98
percent completed and we cannot just
wish-away that mileage which has been
achieved over the years. So in line with
that, you keep hearing the issue of conception
upon conception it has become
a recurring decimal in the turnaround of
that plant and from one company to the
other and from one tying up a project
to the other and what is the sector that
is bearing the brunt? Nigerians are the
ones losing.
So because of that, the Speaker had
embarked on oversight in February, and
on the spot assessment was done. And
he got information beyond what is being
read on the papers and insight into what
the issues are and the way forward.
How will you describe the refusal of
some ministers to appear before relevant
Standing Committees to defend
the 2018 Budget proposals?
This is people’s parliament and a country
being governed by Constitution and
from what happened when the ministers
were invited that the House then passed
a vote of no confidence in the ministers
and today’s plenary, some other issues
have come on the table.
The issue of relationship with companies
at the centre of the concession,
especially the consultants that are being
highlighted to be in touch with the auditing
and the processes involving that concession;
where such is being alleged that
such companies have been indicted in
some other countries, for issue of integrity
test, issue of corporate governance.
Also, it was being mentioned that
one of the companies being mentioned
has a cross relationship in terms of being
mentioned to have executed one of
the two projects undertaken when the
current Minister of Steel was in charge
of his home state. So in view of the additional
information that came up today,
it became additional information to the
committee that has been set up to investigate
that matter.
But the major point you have taken
home today is the resolution that Ajaokuta
is not that due for concession and
what we should be talking about is to
complete the project and now plan on the
management of the project and partnership
with well acknowledged managers
of steel plants.
How ready is the House and indeed
the National Assembly to appropriate
as much as $1.5 billion for the completion
of the Steel company as alluded to
by the experts invited to speak at the
sectorial debate?
Absolutely, we have the capacity to raise
the fund. The revenue base of the government
in terms of the internally generated
revenue is improving daily and people are
having more awareness in terms of tax
issues, both as individuals and corporate
entities; if not for anything, to grow Nigerian
economy.
It will take Nigeria 20 years to achieve
the mileage that has been so far achieved
in Ajaokuta more than 15 to 20 years ago
as a matter of fact. It is a rare feat for any
country in Africa to achieve that mileage.
So in terms of raising $2 billion to revive
that plant, it is something our government
should be able to do. You have a
lot of funds tied here and there that can
be injected in Ajaokuta and get people
employed-direct l and indirect labour in
terms of market outreach and multiplier
effect to boost the economy.
If you remember that part of the issue
we have today that has derailed the take
off of Ajaokuta is the issue of we being
compelled to use substandard steel. You
see buildings collapse and we lose human
beings and casualties at work site. This is
as a result of the quality of steel being used
Amadi
in construction. You see Nigerians going to
use iron or metal that corrosion has taken
over, cans of drinks and different kinds of
things that end up in melting companies
that are scattered all over the country.
That cannot even achieve 20 percent of
quality steel for the Nigerian economy.
But if Ajaokuta had been on board,
we would have been a regional hub for
Africa; we should even be able to supply
steel beyond Africa.
But what’s your take on the allegation
that the Federal Government is being
held down on the project by some external
influence?
I wouldn’t say there is an external force
but if you look at why my colleagues are
directing their energies on the Minister,
it is on record that the quality of companies
coming for this giant project to be
conceded to them to manage that they
do not have the capacity and technical
knowledge, financial and managerial
ability of any sort to manage the plant of
that size. So it is not the issue of external
influence, but it is an issue of scope.
When we are also appointing people into
sectors that are critical to our economy,
we should also profile such persons to
ensure they have the depth of knowledge
and the passion to manage those
ministries.
It is the issue of passion; I refer specifically
to the Ministry that is in charge of
that process, if they have the requisite
qualifications and insight of the projection
of what this will do to our economy,
I am sure they will have a change of mind
in their thinking.
How will you assess this administration’s
policy on economic diversification?
One thing is to have theoretical projection
of that diversification and another thing
is to have a political will to ensure that it
is done effectively. When we talk of the
diversification, we have achieved a little
growth in the agric sector. But the way it is
today, we have not been able to structure
the interventions in agriculture to get to
the root of the basic people. It does not
filter down the line of peasant farmers,
middle tier farmers, retail farmers that are
within and all over Nigeria. They are not
getting these benefits that are coming, in
terms of intervention, grant and any social
measure that government has to improve
the lives of the citizens.
What are the underlying factors fuelling
the rancour between the Legislature
and the Judiciary, as it relates to the
recurring cases of court orders?
We believe there are three arms of government:
the Legislature, the Judiciary
and the Executive. It is the duty of the
Parliament to make laws and amend
laws. So if there is an abuse of court
processes, that tries to derail any arm of
government from carrying out its statutory
duties, that will be very inimical to
our democracy.
I don’t think that a Court will have
right to tell a Parliament what they
should do and what they should not do
in terms of making laws for the interest
of Nigerians.
What’s your schedule for the assignment
given by the House to probe
allegations bordering on recovery of
accrued interests from sales of power
assets during the last administration?
The Committee was mandated to carry
out investigation on alleged suppression
on remittance of interest accrued on the
sale of Power Holding Company that
has been privatised or sold on the floor
of the House.
I had moved a motion asking for investigation
into the suppression of interest
element attached to volumes of billions
of naira. It actually affected some few
banks playing within our country and
as a Committee, we have just been appointed
by the leadership and effective
from next week, we will begin to put our
acts together to take-off.
The fulcrum of our mandate as a Committee
is to investigate the alleged nonremittance
of accrued interest due on
the proceeds of sales of assets of Power
Holding, the GENCOs and the DISCOs.
There are specific banks where these
proceeds were deposited by the buying
public.