SENATOR EKONG SAMPSON SPEAKS ON ALSCON, IKOT ABASI
…as Senate re-investigates Ajaokuta Steel Company
ABUJA – Senator Ekong Sampson, representing Akwa Ibom South in the National Assembly, has called for investigation into Aluminum Smelting Company, (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi, to ascertain why such a ‘behemoth’ was lying waste and in paralysis’, for years.
Senator Sampson spoke at plenary earlier today, following debates on the motion ‘Urgent Need to Investigate Alleged Incidences of Corruption and inefficiency at the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), located in Kogi State’, sponsored by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Taking the floor, Senator Sampson, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Minerals bemoaned the sorry state of ALSCON, just like Ajaokuta, which he said, was ‘lying prostrate and in paralysis’ for years now.
Senator Sampson expressed that such behemoth would have generated lot of jobs for Nigerians and boosted the nation’s economy, if it were functional. He described the cases of Ajaokuta and ALSCON as ‘metaphors of rape and abandonment’.
The Akwa Ibom South Senator decried how big industry players have used what he termed ‘legal quagmire’ to frustrate the management, take-over efforts and operational efficiency of these once fledging companies, and called for thorough sectoral re-investigations into Ajaokuta, ALSCON and other moribund facilities in the country.
Earlier in her motion, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan had noted that decades after their establishments, the Ajaokuta Steel Mill and NIOMCO have remained inoperative and unable to produce steel, despite seeming efforts by several administrations due to lack of earnest political will and bureaucratic corruption.
The Senate in its resolutions, resolved to set up Ad-hoc Committee to re-investigate the affairs of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, NIOMCO, and other allied companies. The Senate also urged the Federal Government to review extant policies and laws on steel development with a view to adopting the strategic implementation plan on Steel Development.
© Samuel Udoma
IBOM VOICE MEDIA 