BENIN CITY – Accusations and counter accusations have continued to trail the non-functioning of the fertilizer Blending Plant in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.
This followed the disagreement between the immediate past Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon. Francis Naboya and the present General Manager of the company, Mr. John Aibangbe over the condition of the factory when the Chinese Technical Partners disengaged.
While the General Manager claimed that the alleged missing computers in the factory was its hub, the former Commissioner said all facilities necessary for the commissioning was in place before commissioning by former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.
Explaining his role in the fertilizer Blending company as the then Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, to the panel set up by the Edo State House of Assembly to investigate the non-functioning of the company years after commissioning, Mr. Naboya told the committee that the intention of the immediate past Governor of the state was to make the factory work since there was already insinuations in some quarters that the company was an empty shell.
On the N30 million collected by him after the place was commissioned, he disclosed that the money was meant to access loan of N250 million from the Agric Bank to complete the work in the factory so as to prepare it for Technical partner ownership before privatisation.
Continuing, he stated that the loan could not be accessed because of the House of Assembly’s resolution stopping the state government from further borrowing.
While the project manager, Mr. M.A.Igbafe revealed that the company could work without the monitor stolen from its computers, the General Manager, Mr. John Aibangbe insisted that without the computer, the company could not work effectively, emphasizing that it was the stolen component that regulates and fine tunes the final product that comes out of the factory.
The former Commissioner on his part maintained that the state government was not owing the Chinese Technical Partner but that it was the expatriates that were indebted to the state government due to their inability to complete their job to specification.
He therefore advised the present administration in the state to set machinery in motion to get them to refund whatever balance was left.
The Chairman of the probe panel, Hon. Frank Okiye directed that the former Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Joseph Amowie, Mr. Philip Olumese, former Commissioner for Commence and Industry, the former permanent Secretary, Engineer Ade Edeki and all other permanent secretaries that served in both ministries of Agriculture and Industry during the conceptualisation and execution of the fertilizer plant project should appear before it on Wednesday next week.
Hon Okiye stated that one Dr. James Erhabor whose name appeared copiously in all issues relating to the factory still remained a wanted person on the list of the committee.
Other members of the probe panel are Hon. Kingsley Ehigiamusor and Hon. Philip Shaibu.
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