The House of Representatives, on Thursday, resolved to probe alleged illegal auctioning of Federal Government properties by Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Other agencies allegedly involved are the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), River Basin Development Authority (RBDA) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The probe is sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Rep. Oluwole Oke (PDP-Osun) during plenary.
In his motion, Oke said the procedure for the disposal and auctioning of government assets in Nigeria is well spelt out in Financial Regulations, 2009 and Public Procurement Act 2007 among others.
He said the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provides that government agencies should remit all revenues realised from the disposal of public property should into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
He alleged that NPA, NIMASA, NRC, NCS and other RBDA had been auctioning public property at ridiculous prices.
According to him, they also did not follow due process.
Oke noted that partial remittance or non-remittance of revenue from auctioned property into consolidated revenue fund “is a breach of the Constitution”.
He expressed concern that if the practice continued, the government might not cope with the rising demand for accelerated infrastructure.
This is also in the face of dwindling crude oil revenue in Nigeria.
Following his submission, the House, thereafter, resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the matter.
This, according to the House, will cover the period between 2010 and 2022.
This is intending to establish the extent of alleged illegal auctioning of public property.
It also intended to find unravel the non-remittance of revenue realised into the consolidated revenue purse.
The committee has four weeks, within which to report back to the House for further legislative action.
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