Reps summon education minister, others over illegal loans

MAY 4, 2012 BY JOHN AMEH, ABUJA 

Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i
| credits: File copy

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Thursday summoned the Minister of Education, Prof. Rukkayat Rufa’i, over alleged “illegal” loans the ministry sought from agencies and parastatals under its control.

The committee, which said the minister and its directors must appear before it within 14 days, warned that the House might invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the activities of the ministry.

The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Adeola Olamilekan, gave the directive during a meeting with officials of TetFund in Abuja.

Olamilekan observed that the ministry owed TetFund N531m.

He stated that the ministry had taken the money as a loan from the agency “illegally” between 2006 and 2007.

“This loan should be paid back within 30 days, failure which the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation will be directed to withhold the allocations of the ministry,” the chairman added.

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Mr. Mammud Yaqub, had explained that he was not responsible for approving the loan, as he was not in charge of the agency at the time.

He, however, claimed that he made fruitless efforts to recover the money.

Meanwhile, the House in plenary on Thursday called for the completion of over N2.7tn projects said to have been abandoned in the country.

A bill to empower the Bureau of Public Procurement to ensure the completion of such projects within the stipulated contract periods passed second reading at the House on Thursday.

The sponsor of the bill, Mr. Abiodun Balogun, recalled that “Several motions have come up on this floor over abandoned or uncompleted road projects, bridges, schools, medical centers, dams, agricultural development projects, airports, seaports, grain silos, Independent Power Projects.”

He cited the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja Road, East-West Road, Lagos-Sagamu-Ore Expressway, Iwopin Paper Mills and Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mills as examples of such projects.

He added, “According to official Federal Government reports, over 11,800 projects have been abandoned or are uncompleted.

“Already, N2.7 tn has been spent and about N7.28tn will be needed to finance abandoned projects.

“According to reports, in Niger Delta Development Commission, out of 5100 contracts awarded, only 1550 were completed, 2982 being abandoned.

“In Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, over N300bn has been wasted on uncompleted Turn Around Maintenance projects in our four refineries to no effect.

“The Bureau of Public Procurement which should ordinarily step into this matter has no clear provisions in its Act.

“Therefore, this amendment is intended to give BPP the necessary power to check projects abandonment in Nigeria.”

SOURCE:The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely Read Newspaper 4 May 2012.