The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, during its resumed investigative hearing on the expenditure of COVID-19 intervention funds by MDAs, has instructed the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment to refund the N75 billion allocated for COVID-19 intervention and the Federal Ministry of Health to return N10 billion designated for vaccine production but not utilized for that purpose.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Industries’ non-compliance with invitations, the committee, adopting a motion by Bassey Akiba (LP, Cross Rivers), directed the ministry to refund the allocated N75 billion to the government coffers immediately.
Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun), informed members that despite repeated invitations, officials from the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment have failed to respond or appear before the Committee. Salam emphasized, “N75 billion Naira was appropriated to them. Former Permanent Secretary and the current Permanent Secretary are affected by this motion to refund the sum of N75 billion to the federal government as COVID-19 Intervention, which, as far as we are concerned, has not been expended.”
In a similar vein, the committee instructed the Federal Ministry of Health to return the N10 billion allocated for the production of COVID-19 vaccines, which remained unused. The funds were revealed to be domiciled with the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. The committee asserted that if the ministry requires the funds for any other purpose, a fresh request should be made to the National Assembly for proper appropriation.
Furthermore, the committee directed the CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Salihijo Ahmed, to submit documents detailing the utilization of the agency’s COVID-19 Intervention funds by the close of work on Friday, January 19.
The comprehensive investigation by the Public Accounts Committee spans 56 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to scrutinize the utilization of COVID-19 Intervention funds. This inquiry follows a resolution on a motion by Rep. Zakariah Dauda Nyampa (PDP, Taraba).
