Public Account Committee, PAC of the House of Representatives on Wednesday resolved to write to the relevant agencies to unveil the identities of the companies involved in the N18.9bn bush clearing contract, land preparation and rehabilitation of soil plant lab during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
A query from the office of Auditor General of the Federation had revealed that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development gave out the contracts of such monetary value to about 20 companies which the committee was probing.
At the resumed investigative hearing of the committee on Wednesday, the Committee refused to grant audience to the representatives of the two of the companies on the grounds that they were not competent to speak to the committee because of the sensitivity of the issues.
The affected companies were Easy Construction Company LTD and NUKAAG VENTURES LTD
The Committee chairman, Hon. Wole Oke (PDP- OSUN) said that the two representatives of the Companies, Johnson Philip and Taiwo Idowu were not familiar with the details of the submission made to the Committee on the award and execution of the contractors.
He therefore directed the Managing Directors or Chairmen of the companies to appear before it and speak to the submission before the Committee.
Oke also directed the Clerk of the Committee to write to the Registrar of the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC to furnish the Committee the detail information of the affected 20 companies, including year of incorporation, corporate offices, names of the owners, shareholders amongst others, assuring that the committee would do due diligence on the matter.
READ ALSO:
He said: “We are not concerned about who won the contracts. What we are after is to deter value for money paid out and the sites of the projects, and we will carry that mission to the letter
“The Clerk should also write the Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS, to furnish the Committee about the financial status of the companies.”
