P
ProfRem
Guest
Nigerian Senate on Wednesday adopted Senato Shehu Sani-led committee 12 recommendations on the Presidential Initiative for North-east.
The Senate also recommended that Engr. Babachir Lawal be prosecuted as he has abused his oath of office.
The recommendations of the Senate ad-hoc committee reads:
1.That since there is evidence of malnutrition, hunger and starvation among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the Federal Government and States in the North East should as a matter of urgency see that food items, shelter and other essentials are adequately and promptly provided to the IDPs in order to address the prevailing malnutrition observed amongst them.
2.That the issue of many out-of-school children in the IDPs as result of poor educational facilities necessitates that concerted effort should be made by both the Federal and State Governments of the North East to provide conducive learning atmosphere for the children of the IDPs.
3.That the complete absence of personnel of the Federal Ministry of Health in the IDP camps leaves much to be desired, hence the ministry should be compelled to immediately deploy its personnel to all the IDPs Camp to support the efforts of the international Humanitarian Crisis Managers and the Nigerian Air force medical team in providing the necessary medical assistance so as to avert possible outbreak of communicable diseases like cholera, measles, and diarrhea etc.
4.That the Senate do condemn the failure of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) that are critical to the emergency management, to appear before the Committee despite several invitations.
5.That since it was established that PINE was paying less attentions to the critical needs of the IDPs in the form of housing, the bulk of the resources were used for issues that were not addressing the immediate needs of the IDPs, but rather wasted resources on issues that merely addressed the pecuniary needs/interest of the officials and associates therefore, the Committee recommends that there is the need for concerted effort to reorient the intervention effort to address the immediate needs such as health, education, rebuilding of homes, infrastructure and a secured environment.
6.That since one of the issues hindering the management of emergency situation in the IDPs is the lack of synergy and proper coordination among all humanitarian crisis managers in the IDPs, the Committee recommends that the newly constituted Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI) should ensure that there is proper synergy and coordination and government should ensure that PCNI be manned by people of high integrity; and inclusive enough to accommodate the leaders of the various communities that are involved.
7.That since all the contracts awarded by PINE were awarded under the principle of emergency situation, PINE should forward a detailed report of all contracts awarded by it to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in accordance with Section 43 (iv) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.
8.That since it was observed that there was no bill of quantities on most of the contracts awarded by PINE under the emergency situation, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) should undertake a revaluation of all such contracts to recover any proceeds from over~inflated contracts.
9.That the relevant Agencies should ensure that contracts partially executed but fully paid for must be completed by the concerned contractors, or asked to refund the equivalent money of outstanding jobs to the government treasury.
10That all resources that have been misapplied or stolen by public officials should be retrieved and anybody found culpable of contravening any of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to the award of these contracts should be duly prosecuted by the relevant authorities.
11.That the Banks transactions of Rholavision Engineering Limited and the confirmation Central Bank of Nigeria that the Bank Verification Number of Engr. Babachir David Lawal is still the signatory to Rholavision Engineering Limited accounts and thirteen (13) other accounts, some with different names; the Committee is of the opinion that Engr. Babachir David Lawal has contravened the provision of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As amended); the Public Procurement Act 2007 and breach the Oaths of Office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation should be prosecuted by the relevant authorities.
12.That the Committee also recommend further investigation by relevant Agencies of Government on why contract benefitting companies paid over Five hundred million (N500,000,000.00) naira into Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company in which Engr. Babachir David Lawal has interest.
The Senate also recommended that Engr. Babachir Lawal be prosecuted as he has abused his oath of office.
The recommendations of the Senate ad-hoc committee reads:
1.That since there is evidence of malnutrition, hunger and starvation among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the Federal Government and States in the North East should as a matter of urgency see that food items, shelter and other essentials are adequately and promptly provided to the IDPs in order to address the prevailing malnutrition observed amongst them.
2.That the issue of many out-of-school children in the IDPs as result of poor educational facilities necessitates that concerted effort should be made by both the Federal and State Governments of the North East to provide conducive learning atmosphere for the children of the IDPs.
3.That the complete absence of personnel of the Federal Ministry of Health in the IDP camps leaves much to be desired, hence the ministry should be compelled to immediately deploy its personnel to all the IDPs Camp to support the efforts of the international Humanitarian Crisis Managers and the Nigerian Air force medical team in providing the necessary medical assistance so as to avert possible outbreak of communicable diseases like cholera, measles, and diarrhea etc.
4.That the Senate do condemn the failure of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) that are critical to the emergency management, to appear before the Committee despite several invitations.
5.That since it was established that PINE was paying less attentions to the critical needs of the IDPs in the form of housing, the bulk of the resources were used for issues that were not addressing the immediate needs of the IDPs, but rather wasted resources on issues that merely addressed the pecuniary needs/interest of the officials and associates therefore, the Committee recommends that there is the need for concerted effort to reorient the intervention effort to address the immediate needs such as health, education, rebuilding of homes, infrastructure and a secured environment.
6.That since one of the issues hindering the management of emergency situation in the IDPs is the lack of synergy and proper coordination among all humanitarian crisis managers in the IDPs, the Committee recommends that the newly constituted Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI) should ensure that there is proper synergy and coordination and government should ensure that PCNI be manned by people of high integrity; and inclusive enough to accommodate the leaders of the various communities that are involved.
7.That since all the contracts awarded by PINE were awarded under the principle of emergency situation, PINE should forward a detailed report of all contracts awarded by it to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in accordance with Section 43 (iv) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.
8.That since it was observed that there was no bill of quantities on most of the contracts awarded by PINE under the emergency situation, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) should undertake a revaluation of all such contracts to recover any proceeds from over~inflated contracts.
9.That the relevant Agencies should ensure that contracts partially executed but fully paid for must be completed by the concerned contractors, or asked to refund the equivalent money of outstanding jobs to the government treasury.
10That all resources that have been misapplied or stolen by public officials should be retrieved and anybody found culpable of contravening any of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to the award of these contracts should be duly prosecuted by the relevant authorities.
11.That the Banks transactions of Rholavision Engineering Limited and the confirmation Central Bank of Nigeria that the Bank Verification Number of Engr. Babachir David Lawal is still the signatory to Rholavision Engineering Limited accounts and thirteen (13) other accounts, some with different names; the Committee is of the opinion that Engr. Babachir David Lawal has contravened the provision of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As amended); the Public Procurement Act 2007 and breach the Oaths of Office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation should be prosecuted by the relevant authorities.
12.That the Committee also recommend further investigation by relevant Agencies of Government on why contract benefitting companies paid over Five hundred million (N500,000,000.00) naira into Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company in which Engr. Babachir David Lawal has interest.
