TheCable

The house of representatives has asked Kayode Fayemi, minister of mines and steel development, of abusing his office with his conduct regarding the Ajaokuta Steel Company.

In a statement on Friday, the house maintained its stand that the minister is allegedly trying to concession the company “through the back door”.

On Thursday, Fayemi described as false the lawmakers’ claim that the transactional adviser for the concession of the steel company had been contracted.

“The process for the appointment of a transaction adviser is on, but cannot be completed until it gets the approval of the federal executive council (FEC),” he had said.

Reacting, Abdulrazak Namdas, spokesman of the house, said the lawmakers stand by their position that Greenwich Trust Limited has been acting in the capacity of transaction adviser for the plant.

The lawmaker said the house would no longer join issues with Fayemi, asking him to channel his complaints to a committee saddled with the task of handling the issue.

“As representatives of the Nigerian people, the house of representatives has set up an ad-hoc committee to unravel the issues surrounding the renewed bid to illegally concession Ajaokuta steel through the back door by Mr Fayemi,” he said in a statement.

“If Mr Fayemi claims that no one has been hired as transaction adviser, is he also repudiating his press conference of last week on the appointment of PriceWaterhouseCoopers to undertake an audit of Ajaokuta Steel without due process?

“On whose authority is Greenwich Trust Limited acting on Ajaokuta including coming up with a report on the possible options open to government to reactivate the steel complex? Nigerians will not be fooled, deceived or hoodwinked on this matter because how do you explain that a company which has not yet been appointed started work and even submitted a report based on which decisions relating to the future of Ajaokuta steel are being made? Is this not a clear case of abuse of office?

“In any case, any information or suggestion from the ministry or Mr Kayode Fayemi or any stakeholder should now be channelled to the house ad-hoc committee on Ajaokuta Steel Complex, charged with the responsibility of investigating the issues and not through press releases or press conferences.”

Namdas added that the lawmakers would continue in their resolve to ensure that Ajaokuta Steel Company is completed” in the national interest.