Senate summons Fashola, Ahmed, UBA, others

The Senate on Tuesday, summoned the management of the United Bank for Africa to appear before it over its alleged N41bn indebtedness to the creditors and liquidators of the defunct Nigerian Telecommunications Limited and the Mobile Telecommunications Limited.

The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, issued the summons following a petition sent to it by J .U Ayogu and Co, on behalf of NITEL/MTEL .

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, therefore ordered the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Kennedy Uzoka, to appear before his panel unfailingly on August 5, 2020.

In a related development, the Senate also on Tuesday summoned the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, his counterpart in the Ministry of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, to appear before it on over the legacy projects of the Federal Government.

Also summoned were the contractors handling the legacy projects which included the Lagos -Ibadan Expressway, the Abuja-Kaduna- Kano Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.

The Senate Committee on Finance led by Senator Solomon Adeola, gave the summon after a meeting with the management of the Sovereign Investment Authority, led by its Managing Director, Mr Uche Orji.

Adeola, who spoke on behalf of the Senate panel said the committee needed those being summoned to provide information about the variations that had taken place on the projects and the approving authorities.

He also said the panel would need to know details of the agreements signed between the Federal Government and the contractors before the NSIA took over the projects.

There has been an existing tripartite agreement between the NSIA, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Works on the Legacy projects.

PUNCH