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The finance minister, Olusegun Aganga is to appear
before the House of Representatives Committee on Millennium Development
Goals (MDGS) today to explain why contractors cannot access funds for
MDGs projects.

The committee chairman, Saudaatu Sani, stated this
while addressing the contractors, consultants and officials at the
ongoing three-day public hearing on the implementation of the MDGs. She
also criticised the delay in the execution of Quick Wins projects,
which was blamed on the delay in payment by the finance ministry and
the banks.

United Nations approved

“On the contractors who have not been paid, tomorrow
(Wednesday), we are going to meet with the minister of finance,” Mrs
Sani said, adding “MDGs money is already a committed fund. It is a fund
approved by the United Nations for certain projects so the minister has
no right to say that he would not pay. It is borrowed money for a
purpose so you cannot say you will not pay it.”

The lawmaker noted that the banks have no right to
delay payments to contractors, adding that the MDGs office and the
committee will sit and scrutinize all the banks with a view to paying
the contractors. She insisted that the House will not allow banks to
frustrate the work of the MDGs.

Mrs Sani said that the committee has resolved with
Amina Az-Zubair, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on MDGs,
to terminate all unexecuted projects, giving the end of August, 2010,
as the deadline for all projects awarded in 2008.

“The recommendation is that all contractors that have
failed to do their job, their contracts will be terminated. All banks
that are to pay money to the contractors should please urgently pay it
so that the contractors can go on site. All contractors that have been
awarded contracts should immediately move to site so that at the end of
the day, our projects will be completed and Nigerians and the
honourable members will appreciate works done by the MDGs so that we
can start a better life.

“I know it is not easy but believe me we have to take
a very firm decision to remove the chaff from the wheat because among
your contractors, there are those who want to sabotage your efforts.
There are those that think, it is still business as usual. The
consultants should know that they cannot afford to misinform the MDGs
office. State consultants must go back to every constituency, find out
what is the state of the MDGs projects and bring their report to the
MDGs office. Their deadline for this is 31st of August.”

The committee chairperson also said that consultants
who could not do their jobs accordingly are not worthy to be called
consultants. She, however, commended others for doing well.

Spoiling the show

“We commend those that are doing very well but those
that are not doing well are spoiling the show. MDGs office cannot be in
Abuja and be at the 774 local government areas of the country at the
same time, but they have assigned you (consultants) to do that job and
because you have been paid for this job, please do the job,” she said.

Mrs Sani said her colleagues in the National Assembly
are interested in the Quick Wins projects because many of them are
nursing the ambitions of returning to the legislature or seeking
election as governors.