Reps summon NPA over N5.1bn renovation contract

The House of Representatives has summoned the management of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) over an alleged unsigned renovation contract awarded worth N5.1 billion.

The House Committee on Public Accounts at its public hearing on Thursday demanded that original copies of the contractual agreement for the renovation of NPA Corporate Headquarters in Lagos, awarded in 2011, be produced by the management.

According to the chairman of the committee, Wole Oke, the summon was based on a query by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation on the contract awarded in 2011 with a completion period of 15 months without a valid signed contractual agreement.

The query alleged that as at 2013 when the contract ought to have been completed and money paid out, there was no valid signed contractual agreement between the contractor and the body that awarded the contract.

The committee expressed its disappointment over the way the contract worth over a billion Naira was awarded without a valid signed contractual agreement as alleged in the query.

Speaking before the committee, the NPA Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, disclosed that the contract was awarded by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), adding that available records have shown that there was a valid signed contractual agreement.