July 05, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development has summoned the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye, to appear before it by Tuesday.
THEWILL reports that the Minister is being summoned over the alleged failure of her Ministry to account for N1.5 billion meant for the payment of old contractors.
Chairman of the Committee, Khilifat Ogbara, issued the summon at an investigative hearing organised by the Committee following a petition by some of the contractors.
The panel, which ordered the Ministry to halt contracts in the 2024 budget until issues relating to the N1.5 billion are resolved, also directed the Ministry to furnish it with details of the Special Account created for the Chibok girls, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American University of Nigeria, Yola for the payment of the school fees of the Chibok girls for seven years.
“We are giving till Tuesday for the Ministry to bring all documents to come and defend where the N1.5bn disappeared to,” the lawmaker said, adding that information at the disposal of the committee indicated that the Ministry allegedly initiated new contracts not captured in the 2023 budget while failing to account for N1.5 billion meant for the payment of old contractors.
However, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, explained that in “2023, we had a total budget of N13.6 billion, the total release was N3.4 billion, translating to 25 percent budget utilisation, while unreleased balance stood at N10.2 billion.”
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