Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, has lambasted civil servants for awarding non-existing contracts without the knowledge of the minister and for causing the FCT Administration alleged N5.8 billion as claims from protesting contractors.
He affirmed this on Tuesday at the commissioning of the newly rehabilitated N50 billion Lower Usuma Dam Phase 2 Water Treatment plant in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council.
Wike derided the contractors as bogus, insisting he would not be intimidated into settling claims that were never legitimately awarded.
“Let anybody who said I awarded a contract bring the documents and show how I awarded the contract. You see the problem in this country is that when you want to fight corruption, corruption will fight you back, and it is corruption that is fighting back. We are going to defeat corruption.
“I came on board with the Minister of State, complaints that people were being owed local contractors, indigenous contractors; 5 billion, 8 billion being paid. I said who awarded this contract?
Do you know what happened? Civil servants stay in their offices and award contracts worth 15 million, 10 million, 20 million without the minister knowing.
“And then you here, ministers, sitting in the office and people will tell you that you are owing N15 billion, when you don’t know when it was awarded, certainly it will not happen! Let heaven come down! Nobody can intimidate me on that,” Wike said.
He challenged anybody to prove it if all the contracts commissioned in the FCT were done by indigenous contractors.
“If you see the faces of those people, do they don’t look like contractors? If you look at their faces, you will know that those who awarded the contracts to themselves, are bringing those people to come.
“They will continue to demonstrate. If you like, go to the British embassy, all the embassies, sleep there. I will never feel pressured. If I award contracts, I will pay.
“And those who know me know that I don’t award contracts when we don’t have money. Look at the faces that say they borrowed money. Cry as much as you want to cry because I never awarded any contracts. We must do things right.
“If it was not done right on Tuesday, does not mean it will not be done right today. People must know that it cannot continue to be business as usual. You cannot embarrass me, it’s not my business.
“Go and meet those who awarded the contracts to you, and tell them your children are out of school. It’s very embarrassing. Very embarrassing.”
Olawale Ajimotokan
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