. Calls for Adhoc Committee probe on Agency
By Ikenwa Charity
Minority Leader of House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, has accused Note that the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, of being fraudulent on its mandate.
Elumelu in his motion filed at the green chamber of the National Assembly, stated that FERMA was established in 2002 with a mandate to efficiently and effectively monitor, as well as the maintenance of all federal roads in Nigeria with an objective of keeping all the roads in good condition under the supervision of Ministry of Works.
The lawmaker lamented that despite the billions of naira being voted to FERMA yearly for purposes of road maintenance, the federal roads across the country are nothing to write home about as most of them have become death traps, killing hundreds of Nigerians yearly as a result of poor conditions of our roads.
According to him, the agency which was set up to “ameliorate the sufferings of Nigeria road users is alleged to be enmeshed in serious corrupt practices by the management.
“The corrupt practices includes; high handedness by the leadership of the agency, over inflation of contracts, award of non- existent contracts, massive splitting of jobs and flagrant disregard for procurement laws in the award of contracts and in most cases refuse to implement the budget in full thereby, doing selective implementation of the budget.
Elumelu further noted that there are allegations of intentional delays in awarding contracts for road repairs and construction several months after bidding had been completed and successful bidders have emerged thereby compounding problems for Nigeria road users and sabotaging the effort of government.
He stated categorically that most of the contracts are alleged to have been cornered by the management for themselves and their cronies, who abandon site after collecting reasonable percentage of advance payment of contract sum.
“If these spate of unbridled pilfery by top government officials is allowed to fester and unchecked, it will not only drain the national purse but discredit the perceived fight against corruption by this government in the eyes of the international community, hence the need for this motion.
The lawmaker called for the setting up of an adhoc committee by the House to investigate the activities of FERMA from 2019 till date and report back to the house within 6(weeks).
End.
