Senator Dino
Melaye, has said the National Assembly will call for a review of the contract
awarded for the construction of the official residence of the Vice-President.
According to
Melaye, the gatehouse of the three-bedroomed apartment will cost N250m.
The senator,
while addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, also alleged sharp practices
by the contractor handling the construction of the official residences of the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Melaye was
asked about the effort by the Federal Capital Development Authority to ensure
that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; and the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara,
eventually move into their official accommodation.
He replied,
“As chairman of the committee, even if the Senate President had not asked that
the money (for the project) be removed from the budget, we would have stopped
it. You will recall that I was on an oversight function with some of you and we
visited these buildings, and I can say that they were built at skyrocketing,
over-inflated prices.
“As I speak to
you, the mosque that is occupying less than 100 square meters, that is meant to
be the prayer place for the Senate President and the deputy Senate President’s
residences, and even the Vice-President’s residence, was awarded for over
N200m. And it’s a three-bedroomed ‘boys quarterless’ structure.
“The gatehouse
of the Vice-President’s residence was also awarded at over N250m. We are going
to call for a review of that contract. Julius Berger said they were going to
build a concrete building. I went there with a hammer and I hit it on the wall
and I saw block. That investigation is ongoing. We want to make sure that
government is not being short-changed. So, we are definitely going to call for
a review of the contract because this is a rape of the taxpayers’ money.”
0 Comments