The House of Representatives ad hoc Committee on the disposal of public property has placed the Niger Delta River Basin Development Authority under status enquiry.
Rep. Julius Ihonbvere (APC-Edo) Chairman of the committee said this at a public hearing on Thursday in Abuja.
Ihonbvere also rejected the presentation by the Osun River Basin Authority for lack of details and for using wrong format.
He said that the agencies did not provide the required information to enable the investigation of the committee.
The chairman said that the documents presented did not account for the inventory of assets, those auctioned, details of the process, the auctioneers and the amount remitted into government coffers.
He said that documents presented to the committee by the Niger Delta River Basin Development Authority were either not required or had some discrepancies.
He said that the committee would take a holistic look at the assets management and disposal of the authority as well as the amount remitted in the coffers of government.
On the presentation by Osun River Basin Authority, Ihonbvere said that the content of the documents submitted did not meet the expectations of the committee.
“The report did not follow the outline clearly provided for you and in the advertisements placed in the newspapers.
“It is the view of this committee that we step down this report, please follow our outline and procurement law and present it to the clerk of this committee within 24 hours,” he rules.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Niger Delta River Basin Development Authority, Mr Mark Derefake said that the auctioning process began before his appointment in 2018.
He said that the auction of property was carried out by the Ministry of Water Resources on behalf of the authority as it was without a governing board at the time.
Derefake said that the entire process of selection of auctioneers was done by the ministry and the details were at the ministry.
On his part, the Managing Director of Osun River Basin Authority, Mr Olufemi Odumosu, said that the authority had earlier submitted all the required documents to the House Committee on Public Account at the 9th Assembly.
Odumosu said that he only focused on assets auctioned on the assumption that it was the mandate of the committee.
He promised to avail the committee of more details on the assets of the authority to enable the committee carry out its work.
Odumosu, however, said that the process of auctioning began before his appointment as MD by the supervising ministry.
He said though the governing board of the agency was later inaugurated, it was the ministry that went on and concluded the process.
