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Fresh trouble is brewing at the Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA) as the Senate Committee on Water Resources and Sanitation has summoned the agency’s leadership over allegations of irregular asset sales, revenue diversion, and financial misconduct.
The committee’s intervention follows mounting concerns over the controversial disposal of government-owned assets, with lawmakers demanding answers on the legality, transparency, and approval processes behind the exercise.
In a formal letter dated May 26, 2026, and signed by the Committee Clerk, Ememike Nwofor Leonard, the Senate directed the Managing Director of the Authority to appear before the committee on June 3 at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
The lawmakers also requested a comprehensive dossier on the auction exercise, including asset registers, valuation reports, bidding records, and approvals obtained from key regulatory agencies such as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
The Senate said it was particularly disturbed that it had not been briefed on the disposal of what it described as strategic public assets, raising questions about compliance with established procedures governing the sale of government property.
Invoking its constitutional oversight powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the committee vowed to scrutinize every aspect of the exercise to determine whether due process was followed.
The summons comes amid serious allegations from whistleblowers within the Authority, who claim that the auction process may have gone beyond the disposal of obsolete equipment and expanded to include serviceable assets and recently acquired government machinery.
According to the allegations, some of the equipment reportedly put up for auction were procured between 2020 and 2023, fueling suspicions that valuable public assets may have been sold under questionable circumstances.
The Authority is also facing accusations of diverting internally generated revenue (IGR) from equipment hiring services, a development that has further intensified calls for an independent investigation into its financial operations.
Sources familiar with the matter said the Senate committee intends to establish whether the disposal exercise was properly authorized and whether the proceeds were remitted into appropriate government accounts.
The unfolding controversy has sparked concerns among stakeholders in the water resources sector, who fear that the alleged irregularities could undermine the Authority’s capacity to deliver critical development projects across the Chad Basin region.
With lawmakers now stepping into the matter, attention is expected to focus on the explanations provided by the agency’s management and the documents submitted before the committee.
The Senate’s probe marks the latest effort by the National Assembly to tighten oversight of federal agencies amid growing public demand for transparency, accountability, and prudent management of government assets.
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