The truth exonerates Hon. Peter Akpatason

From John Mayaki

A charge repeatedly made against Hon. Peter Akpatason, the Federal Rep of Akoko Edo Constituency in the National Assembly, after issues surrounding the Lawani road project became a subject of state-wide and perhaps national concern is that he selected and colluded with the assigned contractor to shortchange his constituents.

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, who previously could not locate Igarra or Akoko Edo on an indexed map, traveled to the LGA with a mob and insinuated recklessly that sum running into a surplus of 300 million naira had been released for the project and that the funds were somehow placed in the care of the lawmaker.

But like all lies, the truth, slightly delayed in its coming but devastating in its landing impact, has dismantled and rubbished the opportunistic mendacity of the mischievous Shaibu. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has released a statement where it said in very certain terms that matters involving selection and payment of contractors are within its exclusive domain, and it is not a responsibility it shares with lawmakers who belong to another arm of government.

Indeed, it was the Federal Ministry, not Hon. Peter Akpatason, that awarded the project to Royal Jeff Nigeria Limited, and the quarterly releases for the project (anyone with a slight inkling of how government works knows that budgeted sums are vastly different from eventual releases) is only in the region of 45 million naira, not 300 million naira as the Deputy Governor and the disinformation campaign of the oppositional state government suggested.

“The Ministry wishes to put the records straight, and as such, states that the said road construction is not a 200m but a 300m Zonal Intervention Project (ZIP) approved in the 2020 Appropriation Act and domiciled under supervision of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,” the statement read.

“The contract was awarded to Messrs. Royal Jeff Nigeria Limited in separate contract award letters based on quarterly releases in the sum of N45, 337,500.48 (Forty five million, three hundred and thirty seven thousand, five hundred Naira, forty eight Kobo) between November, 2020 and March, 2021 with specified Bills of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation (BEME) commonly called Bill of Quantities (BOQ) through comprehensive procurement processes and not Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira (N360,000,000) as being speculated in the social media.”

Perhaps to emphasize its full control and responsibility of the execution stage of any project, the Ministry also hastened to add that it will only pay the contractor after a final assessment of the project to ascertain that the execution is in compliance with the agreed terms in the Bill of Quantities.

“The Government and good people of Edo State should be rest assured that this development is being closely monitored to ensure that the contractor complies with the BOQ standard and where found unsatisfactory, payment will not be processed.”

Illuminating as it is exonerating, the intervention of the Federal Ministry has shown where we must train our sights to ensure project quality, and it has also importantly absolved Hon. Peter Akpatason of any wrongdoing or malfeasance. This is an objective fact – and it is superior to opinions marinated and formed in partisan bias.

It is out of confidence that he has done nothing wrong that the representative issued a petition to the Ministry in the first place. Only a man with a free conscience could have done that. He deserves praise for his patience in the face of undeserved bile and unfair accusations stoked by the opposition – and for insisting on full disclosure that uncovered these needed facts.

As for the Deputy Governor who presided over the state government’s campaign of lies and mudslinging meanwhile, we are left wondering if Shaibu left the House of Reps and other legislative bodies where he previously served without learning a single thing on the project awarding and execution process. Or if the truth means nothing to him in his desperate bid to curry favor and position himself as successor to Obaseki. Is he ignorant or malicious or both? Whatever the case may be, the people can now see his intentions and they can judge for themselves.