Reps panel probes alleged $470m fraud in CCTV camera project

From the House of Representatives come yesterday an allegation that the country lost about $470million in the course of executing the Closed Circuit Television camera contract under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee probing an alleged scam in the project, Ahmed Yerima, disclosed that the naira equivalent of the money is “over a trillion naira”.

In a statement made available to The Guardian, Yerima enjoined well meaning Nigerians to support the investigative hearing on the projects starting today at the National Assembly complex.

Recalling how moves by the immediate past 7th National Assembly to conduct a similar probe met the brick wall due to un- cooperative stance of the operatives of the Jonathan ‘s administration, he disclosed that a Chinese firm, ZTE, handled the projects and reportedly later stalled the process after collecting $100m of the total contract value.

The committee chief, who noted that $100m is around 20 per cent of this year’s N6.07tr national budget, lamented that the non-completion of the projects hindered the capacity of security agencies to gather intelligence on the activities of criminal elements in the country.

Shedding light on the projects, the committee noted: “The contract for the installation of the CCT cameras in Abuja and Lagos by the Ministry of Police Affairs is part of a larger project titled ‘Nigerian National Public Security Communications System’ facilitated with an EXIM Bank of China loan.

“The CCTV camera installations is only an integral part of the entire project, which include the installation of 2,000 digital solar-powered cameras, 1,000 each for Abuja and Lagos; 37 switch rooms, microwave backbone; 37 coalition emergency response systems; 38 video conference subs-systems; 37 e-police systems; six emergency communication vehicles; and 1.5million phone lines for subscribers to generate revenue. “

According to the lawmaker, the probe is not politically motivated, it is aimed at ensuring that public money is recovered for the good of the whole nation. “It is apparent that public trust has been abused and many lives have been lost as a result. In line with the Federal Government’s zero tolerance to corruption and effort to streamline its activities for better efficiency, this committee will do its best to investigate the circumstances surrounding this contract”, Yerima added.