The House of Representatives last week gave the Transportation Minister; Rotimi Amaechi, 72 hours to produce the documents relating to the waterways security contract awarded to the Israeli security company in October 2017.
The contract which is worth $195m was awarded to HLSI Security Systems and Technologies without the approval of the National Assembly.
It was gathered that since the controversial contract was awarded to the Israeli company the house of Representatives has received several petitions on the matter.
The Israeli contract is to procure security equipment, train security operatives, including the Naval Officers to tackle armed robbery and piracy in Nigerian waterways.
The investigation of the waterways security contract by members followed series of petitions filed by 10 civil society organizations against the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi not to go ahead with the contract.
The position of the petitioners is that such contract could have security implications for Nigeria as it will expose the nation’s waterways to foreigners.
The Lawmakers who had scheduled a session last Tuesday to investigate the matter said they could not do much without detailed documents on the contract award.
Chairman of the Committee, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta said the Committee had requested for the documents from the Ministry of transport without getting them.
According to him, “We have been demanding these documents and we have received no responses. This is about the eight hearing on this issue.
“If the contractual documents and agreements cannot be produced within the next 72hours, we will be forced to close this matter and make our recommendations to the House".
Although other members of the Committee wanted the matter closed and a report made to the whole House because of the attitude of the Ministry in making the documents available, Abonta maintained that Amaechi should be given the last chance.
He said, “Let us still give them the benefit of the doubt; after 72 hours we can close the matter.
“For now, my ruling is that all relevant stakeholders should stay action in all activities pending the outcome of House resolution on the issue.
“We have wasted so much parliamentary time on this issue that we will close the matter immediately after 72 hours.”
It would be recalled that the Minister had during the 2017 World Maritime Day celebration explained that the President had approved the maritime security contract.
The contract is to be financed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for the security of the nation’s water ways.
Amaechi had explained that he was moved to engage the Israeli company based on the information received from Maersk which said it spends between 15m and $18m annually to those escorting their vessels on the waterways.
He disclosed that the Israeli company has assured him that with the contract, they will stop such harassment on the our waterways"
Discussion about this post