Nigerian speaker under fire for 3.6 mln dollars home refit

ABUJA, Aug 21 (Reuters) Government and opposition deputies criticised Nigeria's parliamentary speaker today for spending 455 million naira (3.60 million dollars) to renovate and refurbish two official residences.

Lawmakers from Speaker Patricia Etteh's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) said they would press for an investigation into how the contracts were awarded when the National Assembly returns from a summer recess on September 4.

Opposition party Action Congress said the spending was an example of hypocrisy in the new government of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who pledged to crack down on graft after his election to lead a country considered one of the world's most corrupt.

Etteh approved contracts worth 455 million naira to renovate and furnish her house and that of her deputy, and another 173 million naira (1.4 million dollars) for 12 official cars, according to several PDP deputies.

''The cost of these items is outrageous,'' said PDP deputy John Agoda. ''They have no right to award these contracts and where they took the money from is illegal.'' Action Congress said even if the refurbishment was ''Arabian-night standard in terms of size and opulence'', it should not have cost that amount.

Etteh was in the United States celebrating her birthday and was not available to comment. Her spokesman declined to comment.

Dino Maleye, chairman of the House Committee on Information, confirmed some details of the contracts and said the speaker would not be drawn into ''unnecessary brickbat'' over the issue.

In a statement, Maleye said the renovation of the speaker's residence at the cost of about 300 million naira was 100 million cheaper than a similar job done last year. The 173 million naira spent on 12 Toyota Land Cruisers and Mercedes Benz cars were pool vehicles for principal officers of the house, he said.

SPENDING NOT IN BUDGET Presidential spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi said Yar'Adua had approved the refurbishments, but did not specify an amount.

''The president told her to go ahead and renovate it, but the verbal approval does not include the cost of renovation because that is under the budget of the National Assembly,'' he said.

Lawmakers said the spending was not approved in the 2007 budget and the contracts did not go through the established tendering process designed to prevent fraud.

The scandal comes at a delicate time for public confidence in the new government's anti-corruption campaign. Oil exporting Nigeria is consistently ranked one of the world's most corrupt countries by independent watchdog Transparency International.

Yar'Adua's predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo waged a high profile campaign against graft and won debt relief from Western states after pledging that public funds would be used properly.

However, his reputation was tainted by accusations of looting and abuse of office by his vice president shortly before he stepped down three months ago.

The government earns about 30 billion dollars a year from oil exports but has some of the worst cases of poverty and illness in the world because of corruption and mismanagement.

Yar'Adua has spoken repeatedly against the culture of corruption in government, but Nigerians are sceptical after decades of leaders have failed to live up to their promises.

REUTERS GT BD2350