By Emman Ovuakporie & Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA—THE House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Rail Contracts has unearthed how an unregistered company was awarded a N19 billion contract in 2011.

The committee also vowed to issue a bench warrant on Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and four commercial banks that failed to submit details of monies transferred to companies involved in the rail contract scam.

Vanguard reliably gathered that the company, Eser Nig Ltd, was awarded the N19 billion  contract in April and as at the time, the company had no records with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC.

A source privy to this development told Vanguard that three months after the award, precisely in June, the company now presented its certificate of incorporation.

He said: “There was no evidence of tax payments and the company participated in the bidding process in April.

“As we speak, the company has not appeared in any of the committee’s investigative hearings since last year.

“We’ve sent mails to the address they gave the committee and several letters and till date, no response.

“We don’t want to jump to the conclusion that probably it’s a ghost company until the committee exhausts all avenues but our patience is fast running out.

“It also appears as if the banks are concealing information of how the monies were paid and this is not good for democracy.”

The adhoc committee, led by Ehiozuwa Johnson Agbonayinma, PDP,  Egor/Ikpoba Okha Federal Constituency, has also vowed to issue a bench warrant on all the banks that made payments to the companies that executed the rail contracts.

The source confirmed to Vanguard that “within the next two weeks, the interim report of the adhoc committee will be submitted but till date, the CBN and four commercial banks have deliberately refused to submit details of all the transaction.

“We requested for their statements concerning the companies involved but outside two banks that obliged us last week others declined.

“As we enter the last quarter of the year we don’t really have a choice than to get them arrested.  The committee has issued several warnings to the Banks since last March and we can’t continue waiting in vain,” the source said.

According to the source, Ecobank, First Bank, Sterling and Skye Banks are yet to submit details of money transferred to the companies.

Vanguard recalls that the House constituted an adhoc committee last November to look into all rail contracts of over N1trn  from 2011 till 2014.

When contacted, chairman of the committee, Agbonayinma simply told Vanguard that he was too busy for now to make any comment.