*Says he needs time to work

The ongoing friction between Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, and the House of Representatives Committee on Power took a new turn on Monday when the minister complained that multiple probes on virtually similar subjects were hampering the productivity of the ministry.

The minister urged the House leadership to help streamline the number of hearings involving the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) due to the similarity of subjects.

He also questioned the decision of the committee to hire a consultant who worked for Manitoba that caused the problems faced by TCN, leading to the said probe.

Fashola, while expressing his frustration over the frequency of his visit to the National Assembly, said: “Like the representative of the speaker rightly pointed out, we closed here last week, and we are resuming this week with this committee.

“Committees of the House also will be asking us of our budget performance, and we just need to work in the office so that we can also perform.

“So, I think there’s a sense here that I respectfully ask you to sufficiently use this time so we can also work to serve the Nigerian people.”

The minister had received multiple invitations to the House which he attended in the last two weeks, with another one pending with an ad-hoc committee set up to probe TCN over its management of $1.5 billion World Bank loan facility, and its adherence to both the Fiscal Responsibility and Public Procurement Acts in the utilisation of the loan.

“We have a letter dated December 20, 2017, and that letter is issued under the name of one Nnamdi D. Onuigwe Esq, Committee Clerk.

“And it’s from the House of Reps saying that the House has constituted an ad-hoc committee on the need to investigate the Fiscal Responsibility and Procurement Acts by the TCN.

“It was pursuant to House resolution 114/ADHOT/TCN2 of December 20.

“Now, we were waiting to be invited by the ad-hoc committee when we got this letter asking us to come today, signed by Ibrahim Sidi, Committee Clerk, pursuant to House resolution 189 of December 5, 2017.

“Although its headed as ‘Need to Facilitate Swift Action on Management of TCN Electric Power Reforms’, it goes in the body to ask us to come and explain to this investigative committee the interim management of TCN on the delay in the implementation of projects such as the Nigerian Electricity Gas Improvement project that will improve power sector in Nigeria.

“So, I seek clarification in order to assist the committee in its work and if it’s possible to harmonise all of what we want to do together, bearing in mind that this House substantially is handling some possibly over-lapping issues,” he said.

While the Committee Chairman, Daniel Asuquo (PDP, Cross River), in his response, denied any contradiction or ambiguity, the representative of Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, at the hearing, Onyema Chukwuka (PDP, Enugu) agreed with the minister, assuring him that the leadership would seek ways of harmonising the terms of reference of both committees with regards to the TCN probes.

Fashola again questioned the rationale behind the hiring of Ron Van Arnault as committee consultant when the same man worked with Manitoba to cause the management breakdown suffered by TCN under the previous administration.

Asked to explain why he questioned the involvement of the man, Fashola noted that the consultant, apart from having worked for Manitoba, also benefited from contracts awarded without procurement approval in the ministry, and won’t be totally professional in providing advice to the committee.

To this end, Chairman Asuquo fired back, saying that Fashola was not in a position to condemn his decision to hire the man.

Asuquo disclosed that he had text messages exchanged between Fashola and the consultant wherein the minister solicited for his professional advice.

Going further, he said, “Just as you have your reasons for making decisions, I also have my reasons for hiring Mr. Ron and it’s not up to you to question our decision.

“Today, Mr. Eugene Edozie is seated here as PermSec of your ministry, but I could remember in the 7th Assembly, I served on a panel that investigated him on an allegation that he didn’t have NYSC certificate, and we recommended that he be removed from the post he was holding at the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), but he’s your PermSec and you have not questioned his qualifications,” Asuquo added.