The Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory has turned down a request for the release of another N9bn for the construction of Vice President Namadi Sambo’s official residence, which has been on for three years.
Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Adamu Ismail made the demand to cover the cost of providing furniture, fencing, two additional protocol guest houses, a banquet hall and other security gadgets.
The project was awarded in 2009 at the cost of N7bn but Ismail said the new proposal was not part of the original scale of work handled by Julius Berger Nigeria Limited. He added, though, that the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) had cut the proposed N9bn to about N6bn.
“We have worked out the details and passed to BPP for consideration,” he said. “They (BPP) have sent it back to us with their observation. We requested for N9bn but now it came to about N6bn.”
But Senator Smart Adeyemi, the chairman of the committee, declared the opposition of the upper legislative body to the idea during an oversight visit to the site of the project, describing the request as uncalled for, coming at a time when Nigerians are wallowing in abject poverty.
“The National Assembly is not going to appropriate additional N9bn for the project, especially at a period in this country when people cannot get three square meals. The N9 billion is far more than the original cost of the project,” he said.
Adeyemi insisted that an approximate N14bn, in all, for the project could not be defended in any way.
“Now you are asking us to approve a total sum of about N14bn and this is just the Vice President’s residence. Fourteen billion to me is huge for the Vice President’s house,” he reasoned.
“If you are talking of N10bn, that would be understandable. The reality is that N14bn is indefensible and that is our submission. In Nigeria there are still many people with empty stomachs. So we have to look at budgeting in relation to the needs of the people.
However, Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Domingo Obende, told the executive secretary to submit the additional scope of work for which the fund is needed for proper scrutiny.
