The Senate ad hoc committee set up to investigate alleged cases of corruption and inefficiency at the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining Company from 2002 to the present has raised an alarm over the bogus budget of the company.
Speaking at the resumed hearing, the committee expressed shock that the troubled company could budget ₦4.2bn in the 2024 budget for less then 10 workers.
At the hearing where key stakeholders from the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development represented by the Permanent Secretary, Directors from the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and the Steel and Engineering Union Workers of Nigeria, among others.
Leading the probe, the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, questioned the rational for the ₦4.2bn for personnel.
She requested the Steel Company’s sole administrator, Summaila Abdul Akaba, to provide information on how workers receive pay from the ₦4.2 billion allotted for personnel costs in the 2024 budget.
Akpoti-Uduaghan disclosed that she paid an unplanned visits to the company and found less than ten employees, despite the Steel Company’s enormous annual personnel costs, no steel has been made and no mill rolled.
She expressed her dissatisfaction that as a native of the area, she was eager to get the Steel Company back up and running.
She remarked, “As the sole administrator of Ajaokuta Steel Company, I have a good question for you, as an indigene from the area who is concerned about the company’s state and passionate about its revival.
“₦4.2 billion was allotted for human costs in 2024, but on multiple visits to the site, I saw fewer than ten individuals doing anything.
“So, who are the workers who are receiving monthly pay from the ₦4.2 billion appropriated
“Statistically, if N300,000 is paid monthly to 14,000 people for a year, you will receive N4.2 billion, or N500,000 to 8,400 workers per month.
“Where are the 14, 000 or 8,400 workers in Ajaokuta, the authorised N4.2 billion is being spent on?”
The Senate’s Minority Whip and committee member, Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP Enugu West), refused to allow the complex’s only administrator to respond to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s inquiry.
Ngwu responded: “Please don’t let us indict ourselves because the said appropriation was approved by the National Assembly.”
Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire (APC Ondo Central), Chairman of the ad hoc Committee, stated in his closing remarks at the investigative hearing that the Committee would thoroughly review presentations and submissions from various stakeholders to provide a solution to the Senate’s report on Ajaokuta Steel Company.
