The House of Representatives at its plenary session of Tuesday, 19 December 2017 mandated its Committees on Power and Public Procurement to investigate allegations that contracts amounting to the sum of ₦42 Billion had been fraudulently awarded to some Federal Universities for Rural Electrification Schemes. The Committees are to report back their findings from their investigation in three (3) weeks for further legislative action.

Presenting the motion on the floor of the House Hon. Darlington Nwokocha (PDP:Abia) explained that the Rural Electrification Access Program in Federal Universities was a pilot scheme designed by the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to provide electricity to eight (8) Federal Universities in the first instance with future replication in the remaining Federal Universities where the scheme was successful. According to him the sum of Nine Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira (₦9,500,000,000) was appropriated for the project in the 2017 Appropriation Act.

Furthermore, Hon. Nwokocha explained that the projects, which were supposed to be spread across the six geo-political zones of the country, were not evenly distributed, but concentrated in some zones to the detriment of the others, despite the principle of federal character enshrined in Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (as amended). In addition, he noted that the projects, which were initially approved at ₦9.5 billion in the 2017 Appropriation Act, were selectively awarded to contractors that do not have any records of achievements in the field at the whopping cost of ₦42 billion in violation of the Public Procurement Act.

The House also urged the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to stop further procurement processes on the projects, pending the outcome of its investigation.