By Paul Effiong, Abuja
House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee on Thursday queried the alleged abandonment of the N365 million National Library of Nigeria project in Jalingo, Taraba State.
This followed a strongly worded petition by the civic organisation, BudgIT Foundation.
The organisation had accused the National Library of Nigeria of abandoning the construction of a prototype National Library building in Jalingo after the payment of about N292 million to the contractor.
The Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Professor Veronica Chinwe, appeared before the committee chaired by Bamidele Salam to respond to the allegations.
During the hearing, the agency explained that the contract for the construction of the National Library in Jalingo was initially awarded on March 1, 2018 to Samsung and Asosu Nigeria Limited for N238 million, with a completion timeline of March 2019.
She told lawmakers that the contract sum was later reviewed upward to N365 million in March 2023, following a variation approved through the Federal Ministry of Education.
According to her, N292.267 million has been paid to the contractor, while the project currently stands at about 85 percent completion.
She also disclosed that about N7.3 million remains as the outstanding balance on the project.
However, members of the Public Accounts Committee expressed concern over the status of the project, noting that despite the substantial payment made, the contractor has not been seen on site since October 2023.
The committee also questioned why the eighth payment certificate, valued at N65.2 million, was processed alongside an earlier unpaid certificate despite limited documentation provided to justify the payments.
Lawmakers noted that the only document submitted to the committee was the original letter of award, with other key procurement documents, including the variation request and approval records, missing from the agency’s submission.
While responding, the National Library boss said some of the processes predated her tenure, but assured that the relevant documents would be submitted to the committee.
Chinwe told the committee that officials of the agency visited the project site last year and observed that there were security personnel stationed there by the contractor, adding that they also communicated with the contractor by telephone.
However, the chairman disagreed with the assessment, arguing that the absence of the contractor on site since October 2023 suggested that the project had effectively been abandoned.
He said the agency’s response appeared biased and failed to adequately address the committee’s concerns regarding the status of the project.
Following deliberations, the committee directed the National Library of Nigeria to submit all outstanding procurement and payment documents related to the project.
It also constituted a three-member investigative team to conduct a physical inspection of the project site in Jalingo.
