The Deputy Spokesman, House of Representatives, Hon. Philip Agbese, has criticised the move by Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, to import construction equipment worth €1.2 million to rehabilitate the Eko Bridge in Lagos State.
LagosPost reported that the Minister in a statement issued on Sunday by the Deputy Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Clement Ezeorah, said equipment worth €1.2 million was needed to carry out rehabilitation work on the bridge.
Agbese during an interview on MaxFM in Lagos on Wednesday, questioned the large sum of money to be spent on only one bridge.
Agbese urged Umahi to come clean about the deal since he shouldn’t be the one importing the equipment needed for the repair of the bridges.
He said, “As lawmakers with oversight functions, we find it shocking that The Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi is talking about importing equipment to fix Eko Bridge. That singular declaration set off alarm bells.
“There are so many questions. Is the equipment for only Eko Bridge or it can be repurposed to fix other bridges in need of repairs? Is the €1.2m for the equipment captured in the budget and properly appropriated? Why is he the one importing the equipment for a bridge that has either been or would be awarded to a contractor?
“Is that exercise the best use of government time and taxpayers’ money? Will the proposed importation comply with the Procurement Act? Is there compliance with extant legislation of the land? These are just a few of the questions that the Minister has to answer.”
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
