House Of Representatives Demand Refund Of Covid 19 Allocations From Ministry

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee ( PAC), at plenary on Thursday, has directed the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments to refund N75bn allocated to it as COVID-19 intervention funds.

This decision was reached sequel to a motion moved by Bassey Akiba, following the non-appearance of officials of the ministry at its investigative hearing on Thursday.

PAC, had in a recent advertorial, invited 59 Ministries, Departments and Agencies to appear before it on the 17th January for the commencement of an investigative hearing on the alleged mismanagement of the funds meant to tackle the global health pandemic known as coronavirus.

At the sitting, Akiba moved the motion to compel the ministry to refund the monies appropriated to it.

The committee however, adopted the motion after it was seconded and directed that the ministry return the said funds to the coffers of the Federal Government.

The Federal Ministry of Trade, Industries and Investments got the sum of N75bn as COVID-19 Intervention funds. 

In a similar motion, the Committee directed the Director General of the Rural Electrification Agency, Salihijo Ahmed to submit documents with  details of the utilization of the agency’s COVID-19 Intervention funds

The Committee has  told the agency to submit the documents on Friday before the close of work and appear before it  on Monday at 10 am.