Construction Companies involved in the N1 trillion railway project executed between 2010 and 2014 are to refund N25 billion to the nation’s coffers.

The Auditor General of the Federation disclosed this to the ad hoc committee probing the one trillion naira railway project executed between 2010 and 2014.

At the resumed sitting of the committee on Thursday, the management of the Nigerian Railways Corporation (NRC) disputed claims by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation that that the corporation failed to respond to queries issued it over the now controversial project.

This followed the augmentation of the signalling contract of the Port Harcourt-Makurdi rail project from an initial contract sum of N5 billion to N10.3 billion.

But the lawmakers were in for a further shock as the office of the Auditor General claimed not to know if construction companies indicted by its audit report had refunded stipulated funds totalling N25 billion.

The lawmakers could not hide their displeasure as they sought further clarifications

Also at the public hearing, a retired official of the NRC, Abdulrahman Aboki-Adam, accused the Board of the Corporation of discarding the report of a committee set up to dig into the grey areas surrounding some of the projects.

The committee is to continue its investigative hearing as it takes on the stakeholders involved in the project. (TVC)