Representatives of the creditors, Kabiru Musa and Sylvester Onwuna, at the weekend, stated that the alleged list was submitted to the AGF last week.
According to them, the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) had ordered the BPE to hands off the affairs of M-tel/NITEL since last year, when the Federal Government rescinded its decision to sell off the telecoms firms to private investors.
Challenging the BPE and the AGF to tender the alleged phony list to the NCP for scrutiny, the creditors stated that it was for similar reasons that Vice-President Namadi Sambo ordered the BPE to keep off the payment exercise.
”However, we find it difficult to interpret the role of the Accountant-General who, given the sensitive nature of his office, is required to be more circumspect when dealing with agencies whose integrity and credibility had publicly been called to question,” they alleged.
The creditors stated that the Accountant-General had taken delivery of the authentic list of creditors submitted by the M-tel management since January 20 for payment, but wondered why the AGF’s office was still keeping the list one month after.
A source in the Accountant- General’s office confirmed the receipt of the list submitted by M-tel management, but declined comments on the one allegedly submitted by the BPE, saying it was only the Accountant-General that could comment on that.
However, BPE’s spokesman Chukwuma Nwokoh said nothing had changed and that since NITEL and MTel have not been sold no money could be available to pay the contractors.
He challenged the contractors to show the world Vice-President Sambo’s approval for the payment and also to explain where they think the money would come from.
According to him, the payment of NITEL and MTel contractors was not captured in this year’s budget and as a result, no such approval could be made by the vice- president.
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