The House of Representatives resolved and the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, traded words on Thursday over the audit of Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, who had earlier passed a no-confidence vote on Fayemi, said they would no longer accord him the recognition of being addressed as ‘honourable minister.”
The lawmakers also noted that in other climes, passing a vote of no confidence in a minister was enough grounds for President Muhammadu Buhari to sack him.
In a resolution in Abuja, the House said Fayemi’s decision to engage PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a technical audit on Ajaokuta Steel Company, meant that he was bent on concessioning the firm.
To stop Fayemi, the House proposed to amend the Privatisation Act immediately by expunging Ajaokuta Steel Company from the list of public assets in the schedule that can be privatised or concessioned by the Federal Government.
It also sought to further amend the Act by removing the powers of the National Council on Privatisation as the authority to decide on which firms should be on the schedule.
Reacting, Fayemi said has said that the House of Representatives misunderstood the on-going process to make Ajaokuta Steel Plant operational.
The minister, in a statement issued by media aide, Olayinka Oyebode, indicated that a transaction adviser was yet to be appointed for the renewed concessioning and that such a decision must be approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has not contracted any transactional adviser for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company, as wrongly asserted by the House.
“The process for the appointment of a Transactional Adviser is on, but cannot be completed until it gets the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“The Ministry has not spent a dime from the N2, 096,500.00 (Two billion, ninety-six million, five hundred thousand naira) appropriated by the House for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company (in the 2017 Appropriation Law).
“The mediation process that led to the amicable settlement of the legal encumbrances on Ajaokuta Steel Complex has not ended. There are still a few more steps to be taken as outlined in the terms of (out of court) settlement.
“And the Ministry is following up on this. It is also important to state that no one has been hired. We find it rather worrisome that the House of Representatives could devote an entire day to an issue that has not even arisen.
“The Ministry remains committed to making Ajaokuta Steel Plant function effectively, convinced that steel remains the most important engineering material and backbone of industrialisation in any economy,” the statement said.
