The House of Representatives on Tuesday gave the Transportation
Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, 72 hours to produce the documents on the waterways security contract awarded to the Isaeli security
company October last year.
The contract, which is worth $195 million, was awarded to HLSI Security Systems
and Technologies without the approval of the National Assembly.
The House of Representatives since the award of the controversial
contract by the federal government 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 the honourable
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 scheduled a session Tuesday to investigate the
Matter, said that they could not do much without detailed documents on the contract award.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, said that the Committee
had requested for the documents from the Ministry of Transport without getting them.
Abonta said, “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 72 hours, 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 inability of the Ministry to provide the documents, Abonta said Amaechi should be given the last chance.
His words: “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 waterways.
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.”