Reps pass no confidence vote on Fayemi, Bwari

*Accuse ministers of rascality, contempt for House
*Ministers complicit in non-completion of Ajaokuta Steel

The House of Representatives on Thursday, passed a no confidence vote on the Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi and his Minister of State, Bawa Bwari, accusing the two ministers of executive rascality and holding the House in contempt for failing to honour the summon of the Speaker of the House: Hon Yakubu Dogara, for them to shed light on the delay in completing the Ajaokuta Steel Complex by the federal government.

Apart from the no confidence vote, the House also resolved to have nothing to do whatsoever with the two officials as it relates to governance.

Similarly, the House constituted an ad hoc committee that will conduct an investigative hearing on the apathy displayed by government in completing the steel complex that has reached 98 per cent completion and making it functional and in other issues surrounding the running of the complex.

Both ministers were indicted by the House following their absence for allegedly instructing the sole administrator of Ajaokuta Steel on the sectoral debate convened by the House at the instance of the speaker on the non-completion of the moribund steel complex.

Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, however, escaped incurring the wrath of the House based on her appeal requesting for an extension of time when she can appear before the House as she was attending an official function in Kaduna.

But, the erring ministers had through the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Abdulkadir Muazu, written the House that the ministers can’t honour the summon because they had prior official engagements.

Interpreting this to mean a boycott of the debate by the ministers, Dogara again appealed to the ministers to reconsider their posture, adding that “the debate would have provided an opportunity for officials of the ministry to debunk the widespread allegations that the proposed concessionaires have tied their hands.”

Irked by the disrespect displayed by the ministers and their disinterest about the subject matter of the debate, House Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, moved the motion that the no confidence vote be passed on the two men and that the House constitute an ad hoc committee to probe the current status of Ajaokuta Steel Complex.

Gbajabiamila said, “Their absence is a contempt for the House. None of the ministers had the courtesy to reply to your (speaker’s) letter but did so through their permanent secretary.

“This in my opinion is a scorn on this House by the two ministers.

Supporting the motion, House Whip, Hon Alhassan Ado Doguwa, described as unfortunate the attitude of the ministers, declaring that the two men by their actions undermined the integrity of the House.

He called for decisive action against the ministers, saying that “their absence simply gives credence to suspicions about their roles in the Ajaokuta complex saga.”

Addressing journalists at the House debate, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon Abdulrazak Namdas, said that, the House not only passed a no confidence vote on the ministers but resolved not to have any relationship with them for now.

“They’ve no respect for the legislature and they care not that Ajaokuta can be the backbone of Nigeria’s development.

“On the issue of concessioning, they even wrote that there’s no going back. But experts have warned against privatization or concessioning, as it’s too strategic to be left in private hands or group,” he added.

The lawmaker accused the ministers of fanning the embers of the frosty relationship between the executive and the National Assembly for selfish reasons.

Dogara had earlier before the commencement of debate said that, the Ajaokuta Steel Complex has an installed capacity of 1.3 million tons per annum with provision to increase capacity to 2.6 million tons and further to 5.2 million tons per annum.

The speaker stated that an investment of over $5.1 billion has gone into the complex which equally has a completed internal standard gauge rail track of approximately 68 kilometres and is linked to Warri by standard gauge rail line and gas pipeline.

He added that the complex has two power plants with total installed capacity of 110 megawatts of electricity, more than enough to power the complex, as well as the whole of Kogi and Edo states.

When completed, Dogara stated that the Ajaokuta Steel plant has the capacity to generate about $1.7billion per annum, employ over 10,000 engineers and technicians, employ over 10,000 other personnel and lead to the creation of over 2 million indirect jobs.

Furthermore, he said that the plant will increase Nigeria’s export earnings by over $1billion and save over $15billion worth of steel products imported into Nigeria annually, including producing millions of metric tons of cement and fertilizer annually.

“I want you to imagine what would be the outcome today, if we had completed this plant 34 years ago as originally planned. Also, imagine if there is any nation on this earth that will sink more than $5.1billion of its hard earned money on any project and walk away from it when it is 98 per cent completed.

“Could this be national sabotage or have we been bewitched by some powerful sorcerers? Just imagine how much it will cost if we were to undertake such a project afresh, either now or in the foreseeable future.

“To our collective shame, the present state of Ajaokuta steel complex is more of an expressive metaphor of our ineptitude and bad governance over the years. We have been told that government does not have the funds to complete the remaining two per cent of the plant.

“Nothing can be further from this position as government does not need liquid cash to complete the plant and put it to work. All government needs to complete the plant is, leadership,” he added.

Meanwhile, one of the experts invited by the House, Hadiza Akpoti, in her presentation, alleged that Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello was working in concert with Global Infrastructure to win the concession of the steel complex.
Akpoti alleged that the governor has a direct link with the concessionaire and probably is a co-owner of the company.

She added that “the government of the late President Musa Yar’Adua had indicted Global Infrastructure after an administrative panel had recommended it should not run the affairs of the complex.

“The company went into arbitration and finally won and former President Goodluck Jonathan government paid Global Infrastructure $525m as compensation. It’s this same company that has returned as concessionaire working with a repscompany suspected to be owned by the governor of Kogi State .”