Train 7 Projects: Senate threatens Daewoo, Saipem with arrest warrant for shortchanging FG

Senate has threatened to issue warrant of arrest against Train 7 project promoters (Saipem and Daewoo) for shortchanging Federal government in the execution of the project.

Train 7 project which is worth N10b, is  aimed at boosting Nigeria’s liquefied natural gas output by some 35 per cent.

Speaking on the failure of the foreign companies to appear before Senate Committee on Local Content, Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abdullahi Sabi said the companies were invited following the petitions into breach of local content laws on the Train 7 project, but declined to appear before the Panel.

The Vice Chairman said their absence will not be acceptable and gave the companies till next week December 2, to appear. He threatened that the panel would use the power available to Parliament to compel the companies to appear.

He said, “We invited the operator of the Train 7 project (NLNG), the project promoters (Saipem and Daewoo), along with the regulators, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to appear before us, following  petitions of local contents laws on Train 7 project. They all found convenient reasons not to appear. We find this totally unacceptable.

“As a Parliament, we would not fold our arms and watch our laws breached and trampled upon, particularly in the implementation of a project as important as Train 7, which is a $10bn project.

“However, we would offer all of them another opportunity to appear before next week Thursday (2/12/2021) and have their say. Evidence before the Committee suggests that only Milan (in Italy) and Korea, the home countries of Saipem and Daewoo are feeling the economic impact of the train 7 project, not Nigeria.

“We would want to advise those invited not to dare the Senate by again failing to honor our invitation. If they fail to appear, we shall escalate the matter into a public investigative hearing. It is advisable they appear before us before the matter is escalated, following which we shall use powers available to us under the law, to compel their appearance.

“As part of any investigative hearing, we shall look into the antecedent and future interest of all the companies and where found capable, stop them in the future work. While we are happy to encourage foreign investment in Nigeria, it must comply with our local laws.”