The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, has lost his respect before the House of Representatives and shall no longer be addressed as “ Honourable Minister.”
His offence is that he has refused to heed the directive of the legislators to drop the idea to concession the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
The decision was taken on Thursday at the plenary when the need to probe the circumstances under which PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was brought in to audit Ajaokuta Steel Complex for purposes of concession.
During the debate, a member of the House of Representatives said following the refusal of Fayemi to heed the advice to drop the idea of a concession with regards to the steel company, President Muhammadu Buhari should be asked to sack him through a resolution of the House.
The House however said, already, a vote of no confidence had been passed on Fayemi and the onus was on the president to decide on what to do.
However, they said as far as they were concerned, Fayemi would no longer be referred to as “ Honourable Minister.”
The Ajaokuta Steel Plant has been a source of disagreement between Fayemi and the legislators.
Recently, he was invited to a hearing over the company but he was absent, giving the excuse that he had a pending assignment which made him unavailable.
The legislators did not take kindly to that and passed a vote of no confidence on him.
Meanwhile, Fayemi, has in a swift reaction to the decision of the legislators against him said it was obvious that they had grossly misunderstood him.
His position is contained in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr. Yinka Oyebode.
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The statement reads: “Whilst the ministers are convinced the honourable members mean well as patriots concerned about an important national asset, it is also a fact that they have grossly misunderstood the ministers and other stakeholders working with the ministry on this exercise.
“In view of this and the need to set the record straight for the sake of the general public and the investing community, it is important to state as follows:
- The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has not contracted any transactional adviser for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company, as wrongly asserted by the House.
- The process for the appointment of a Transactional Adviser is on, but cannot be completed until it gets the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
- The Ministry has not spent a dime from the N2,096,500.00 (Two billion, ninety six million, five hundred thousand naira ) appropriated by the House for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company (in the 2017 Appropriation Law).
- The mediation process that led to the amicable settlement of the legal encumbrances on Ajaokuta Steel Complex has not ended. There are still a few more steps to be taken as outlined in the terms of (out of court) settlement. And the Ministry is following up on this.
- It is also important to state that no one has been hired.
- We find it rather worrisome that the House of Representatives could devote an entire day to an issue that has not even arisen.
“The ministry remains committed to making Ajaokuta Steel Plant function effectively, convinced that steel remains the most important engineering material and backbone of industrialisation in any economy.”
