Senator Dino Melaye, has said the National Assembly will call for a review of the contract awarded for the construction of the official residence of the Vice-President.
According to Melaye, the gatehouse of the three-bedroomed apartment will cost N250m.
The senator, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, also alleged sharp practices by the contractor handling the construction of the official residences of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Melaye was asked about the effort by the Federal Capital Development Authority to ensure that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; and the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, eventually move into their official accommodation.
He replied, “As chairman of the committee, even if the Senate President had not asked that the money (for the project) be removed from the budget, we would have stopped it. You will recall that I was on an oversight function with some of you and we visited these buildings, and I can say that they were built at skyrocketing, over-inflated prices.
“As I speak to you, the mosque that is occupying less than 100 square meters, that is meant to be the prayer place for the Senate President and the deputy Senate President’s residences, and even the Vice-President’s residence, was awarded for over N200m. And it’s a three-bedroomed ‘boys quarterless’ structure.
“The gatehouse of the Vice-President’s residence was also awarded at over N250m. We are going to call for a review of that contract. Julius Berger said they were going to build a concrete building. I went there with a hammer and I hit it on the wall and I saw block. That investigation is ongoing. We want to make sure that government is not being short-changed. So, we are definitely going to call for a review of the contract because this is a rape of the taxpayers’ money.”
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