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Reps summon transportation minister, threaten to cancel PPP, concessions
The House of Representatives Committee investigating the Public- Private- Partnership (PPP) and Concessions programme on Thursday threatened to cancel all leases and concessions in the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Public Assets, Ademorin Kuye, gave the warning when the delegation from the Federal Ministry of Transportation led by the Permanent Secretary, Pius Oteh, appeared before the committee in Abuja.
He said the PPP and concessions agreement of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) and the Railway Property Management Company Limited (RPMC) might be cancelled over non-compliance with extant laws.
Oteh, however, told the committee that the ministry has over 170 leases but was unable to provide the relevant documents required by the lawmakers to show there was compliance with the laws.
The committee, thereafter, invited the Minister of Transportation, Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali, Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria and other relevant organisations to appear at the next sitting.
READ ALSO: Reps summon health minister over PPP, concessions
The chairman warned that the committee would not hesitate to invoke relevant constitutional provisions if any organisation fails to honour their invitation.
He said: “As you may be aware, this committee will not hesitate to invoke the relevant constitutional provisions if any head of ministry, agency or department fails to honour the invitation of this committee.
“We can issue an arrest warrant and direct the relevant security agencies to bring such person here.”
Kuye noted that improper management of government assets through the PPP and concessions has been one of the major challenges in infrastructure development.
The House had in a resolution in February mandated the committee on Public Assets and Special Duties to probe Public-Private Partnership initiatives and concession agreements across the country.
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