Palpable anxiety has heightened within the ranks of former ministers of transport, chief executives and chairmen of boards of maritime agencies as the celebrated probe by the Senate enters a critical stage.
The ad-hoc committee was set up recently by the Senate to probe activities of the transportation ministry between May 1999 and May 2007 during which three men and a lady held sway as ministers. They are: Dr Mrs. Kema Chikwe, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Dr Abiye Sekibo, Alhaji Habib Aliyu and Chief Cornelius Adebayo.
Already, a schedule for their appearances have been drawn up, even as our investigations revealed that most of the ministers have already sent in their responses to the committee in the form of memoranda ahead of this week’s appearances.
Shipping Position Weekly confirmed last week that the ad-hoc committee which is headed by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri is expected to drill the parastatals throughout this week.
Our correspondent confirmed that the agencies will be led by the Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) which is billed to appear on Monday, September 22, 2008.
Others expected to come to clear the air on their operations include: the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Sources close to the committee confirmed to Shipping Position Weekly that ahead of this week’s tasks, all the past chief executives as well as chairmen of boards have also sent in written submissions to the committee.
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“What we are looking for are explanations on specific areas such as on income and expenditure, contract awarded, contract paid for, but not executed, including the contracts that were awarded, executed, but without ministerial or federal executed council approval”, a member of the committee told our correspondent over the weekend.
He also disclosed that the ad-hoc team would be interested in all records of previous investigations, including the controversial report of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) report which allegedly indicted the former chairman of NPA between 2003 and 2005, Chief Olabode George and many others.
We also learnt that the heat may be more on Dr Kema Chikwe, Dr Abiye Sekibo and Chief Cornelius Adebayo.
Shipping Position Weekly gathered that all through the weekend, consultations and alignment of books and responses were in top gear between some of the former and incumbent chief executives as well as some of the former ministers.
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