FG constitutes verification committee as it begins probe of NIMASA

Stories by RICHARDS ADENIYI

THE Federal Government may have commenced a subtle probe of all projects being undertaken by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)
Towards this, NIMASA’s supervisory Ministry of Transport has constituted a committee to carry out verification of all projects currently being executed by the agency.
The committee which has two weeks within which to conclude its assignment and report to the Ministry is expected to visit the project sites of the Nigerian maritime University, NIMASA Shipyard and Dockyard, NIMASA Science and Technical College and Permanent site of the six Institutes of Maritime Studies in six Nigerian Universities amongst others.
Confirming the development in a statement recently, NIMASA disclosed that the committee’s membership is drawn from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Federal Ministry of Works and the General Services Unit of NIMASA.
National Daily further gathered through the agency’s Deputy Director, Public Relations, HajiaLamiTumaka that the committee is expected to carry out an evaluation of all projects currently being executed by NIMASA with a view to ascertaining their percentage completion in relation to funds already released.
According to the Deputy Director, on the constitution of the committee, the Acting Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro said the evaluation has become necessary given the limited resources available to the agency which requires the prioritization of projects execution so as to avoid the situation where projects are being abandoned.
“We need to set our priorities right so far as project execution is concerned by strategically executing projects even in a phased manner so as to avoid a situation where projects that should have been very beneficial to the development of the maritime industry are abandoned due to poor planning, the DG was reported to have said.
Mr. Jauro who lauded the wisdom of the Transport Ministry including officers from the federal Ministries of Transport and Works said the development is to make sure that the necessary experts are involved in the process with a view to providing a report that will reflect the correct state of the projects.