Indications emerged yesterday that some federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are now secretly meeting with standing committees of the House of Representatives for defence of their 2016 budget allocations. The act reached a climax yesterday when newsmen were shut out from at least four of such budget defence sessions.
Daily Sun investigation showed that Committees on Solid Minerals, Science and Technology as well as the Committee on Governmental Affairs conducted hearings behind closed-doors.
Meanwhile, during a budget presentation appearance by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Governmental Affairs queried the allocation of N3 billion to Abuja-based telecommunication firm Galaxy Backbone while N1 billion was voted for the rehabilitation of secretariats and installation of security gadgets at the MDAs.
The committee, led by Husseini Suleiman wondered why a higher amount was voted for Galaxy Backbone for consultancy services and projects such as the rehabilitation of offices of civil servants was given a little sum.
They further asked where profits of the company, which is a limited liability company goes to; whether it was meant to be remitted into government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Responding, representative of Galaxy Backbone, Kelechi Opara explained that the money allocated to the firm by the Federal Government was for payment of the services rendered to MDAs.
Opara’s explanation didn’t go down well with the committee even as he was asked how government could predict the value of the services that would be provided by the company.
On his part, representative of OSGF, Permanent-Secretary, General Services, Mohammad Bukar said N1.7 billion will be spent in 2016 for security of the MDAs.
He further explained that the OSGF was able to save N5.6 million out of N11.2 million appropriated for presidential appointments, that is special advisers etc, adding that at the end of 2015, all aides of the immediate past government left office.
Also, the House of Representatives has summoned Comptroller -General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (retd) over his men’s seizure of a Ken Saro-Wiwa memorial vehicle sculpture at Apapa Port in Lagos.
The summon was issued by the Chairman of the Committee on Public Petitions, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, at an investigative hearing on the matter.
The non-motorised bus was donated to the petitioner, Nigeria Civil Society for the Ogoni Struggle, by an unnamed non governmental organisation in the United Kingdom.
A document signed by the Customs’ Assistant Comptroller, Valuation Unit, Moyo Aina, which was submitted to the committee, the NCS said the imported bus-like object is a caricature of a Black-Maria truck made of aluminum sheets and with four tyres covered with aluminum sheet and mounted on a trailer chassis.
Aina added that the import agent in charge of the cargo approached her unit for local assessment but it was not possible because of reasons including the non presentation of a formal application for the valuation.
She further said the artwork was not covered by the list of locally valuable goods within her scope and that she felt the object required the attention and approval of the Comptroller-General because of its “uniqueness.”
Aina stressed that she did not order its seizure.
She said: “The said import is still in the Trader’s Zone. It has not been officially presented to the Nigeria Customs Service, through a declaration.”
But a letter written to the CG , dated November 11, 2015 by the Area Controller of PTML Area Command in Apapa, said the vehicle in question has an inscription thus: “I Accuse The Oil Companies of Practicing Genocide Against Ogoni” and the Customs considered it “inciting”.
Also at the budget presentation hearing conducted by the Aminu Sulieman led Committee on Tertiary Education, lawmakers expressed displeasure over the use of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by federal universities without recourse to the National Assembly.
According to the lawmakers such money should have been remitted and subsequently appropriated by the National Assembly. The lawmakers also queried Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto over its overhead in 2015.
According to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Abdullahi Zuru, N55 million was expended on gas and petrol, N209 million for electricity bills, N52 million for the purchase of vehicles and N24 million for the maintenance of the vehicles.
But Suleiman asked why the University should spend much electricity bills and petrol for generating sets at the same time. The Committee chairman equally questioned why as much as N24 million was spent on car maintenance, the same year new vehicles where purchased.
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