FG To Audit, Enforce Statutory Insurance Of All PPP Assets – ICRC

By Oluwakemi kindness

The Federal Government says it would conduct an audit of all Public Private Partnership projects to ascertain their performance as well as ensure that all the projects are insured as statutorily stipulated in the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Establishment Act, 2005.

Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr. Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh disclosed this when he paid his first official courtesy visit to the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

He assured the Minister that the Commission is already working on evaluating the performance of all PPP projects as well as enforce the insurance policy for all the assets of the Government under PPPs

According to a statement on Wednesday by the acting Head of Media, Ifeanyi Nwoko, Dr. Ewalefoh further assured the Minister that the Commission will take up his charge to train PPP desk Officers in MDAs which it is already doing through its institute. He also urged the ministry not to relent in adopting PPP projects or seek clarifications where necessary.

“Talking about the audit, we are already putting in place mechanisms to start auditing the performance of PPP agreements that were signed in the past: this is not aimed at condemning or terminating them but to optimize them in the interest of the Nation.

“When it comes to the issue of insurance, of course it is a matter of law for all national assets, both hard and soft infrastructure that are concessioned through PPP to be insured.

“That is one area we are looking into and would very soon issue a directive that all assets under PPP must, in compliance with the law, be insured,” he said.

In his remark, the Minister, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, commended the appointment of Dr. Ewalefoh as the D.G of ICRC, describing it as a clear demonstration of the intention of the government to diversify the economy and allow the private sector to play its role, adding that his qualification and experience were unquestionable.

The Minister disclosed plans to efficiently leverage on PPPs to make key agencies in the Ministry self-reliant and exit them from the government’s budget line.

“We believe that a lot of our agencies should be off budget and we are working towards that, because the resources to government are not even there: this is a country of 230 million people with an increasing population, therefore we have to be innovative in terms of financing.

“We know that the resources of the government are limited but the private sector has a lot more resources, all we need is to create the environment and give them the confidence to invest and Nigeria will be a better place for us,” he said.

Image credit: www.icrc.gov.ng