House of Representatives committee investigating alleged diversion of
\nfunds and materials meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS),
\nespecially the alleged use of\u00a0 N270m just to clear grass by the office of
\nthe Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) said it was being
\nfrustrated by the refusal of\u00a0 the SGF, Mr Babachir Lawal to appear before
\nit.<\/p>\n
The ittee particularly decried the failure of Secretary to Government of
\nthe Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal, to honour summon to him to appear
\nand clarify some issues on the allegations.<\/p>\n
on IDPs and the North-East Initiatives, mandated by the house to
\ninvestigate the allegation had invited Lawal to explain how his office
\nspent about N12 billion allocated for the IDPs\u2019 challenges.<\/p>\n
The committee is also investigating the expenditure of N270 million by the
\nPresidential Initiative on the North-East (PINE) \u201con just clearing of
\ngrass\u2019\u2019. Also being probed by house committee is the purported allocation
\nof N188.69 million for Nigerian refugees living in Minawao, Republic of
\nCameroon\u200e.<\/p>\n
Expressing disappointment with the attitude of the SGF towards the
\ncommittee, Chairman of the committee, Rep. Sani Zorro, said \u201cThe SGF who
\nwas slated to have appeared hasn\u2019t showed up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did not write to intimate us on why his office would not come to
\nexplain why issues of internally displaced persons\u200e have remained
\nun-encouraging, in spite of the billions of naira claimed to have been
\nspent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe PINE officials said he\u2019s at the villa.<\/p>\n
But, as the secretary to the government under whose office the
\nrehabilitation of the North-East was placed, we had expected him to come
\nto throw light on the financial expenses made by his office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also expected him to explain the implementation framework being used
\nto spend money.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been inundated by reports of diversion of materials and funds
\nmeant for the rehabilitation of the IDPs, and the North-East and the
\nscandal had led to international embarrassment for the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the issues of credibility and integrity raised against the agency
\nin charge of the North-East Initiative (PiNE) which falls under the SGF
\noffice, we had expected him to respect the invitation.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, testifying before the committee members, Executive Secretary in
\ncharge of the Presidential Initiative, Mr Umar\u00a0 Gulani, said that N270
\nmillion was awarded as contract.<\/p>\n
He said the contract was for the removal of 250 kilometres of \u201cinvasive
\nplant species along river channels and simplified village irrigation
\nscheme (phase II) in Komadugu Basin in Yobe\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
In reaction, Zorro expressed dissatisfaction with the explanation, saying,
\n\u201cwe are of the opinion that the expenditure of the magnitude you have
\nmade\u200e is not justified.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not acceptable that you would spend such a huge amount of money on
\nthe clearing of weeds while 2.5 million internally displaced victims of
\nterror go hungry. \u201cThey have no shelter and medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n
The committee, therefore, demanded further details from PINE, to be
\nsubmitted to it without delay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
House of Representatives committee investigating alleged diversion of funds and materials meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS), especially the alleged use of\u00a0 N270m just to clear grass by the office…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n