Reps turn down 2017 budget defence of Ministry of Communications

The House of Representatives Telecommunications Chaired by Hon Saheed Akinade-Fijabi on Thursday stopped the presentation of the 2017 budget proposal of the Federal Ministry of Communications before it and demanded for the full details of performance of the 2016 budget.

The Committee equally demanded from the Ministry’s delegation led by its Minister, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, several documents relating to the 48 capital projects embarked upon by the Ministry in the year under review, the contractual agreements on the projects, the locations, the stage of completion, the cost, the amount paid out till date.

Other documents demanded from the Ministry are its nominal roll, receipts of expenditures on travels and tours, purchases of computer put at over N12m, the number procured, the unit cost, the beneficiaries, cost of training, the approval for such training, the beneficiaries, the releases of funds to the Ministry on both overhead cost and Capital projects and the full details on the discrepancies noticed in the Ministry put at over N1billion in allocation which the Ministry claimed as typographic error.

The Committee also frowned at the N8m which the Ministry claimed it spent on its presentation to the Federal Executive Council meeting, describing  it as a wasteful spending which should be discouraged in this era of change and the recession in the country.

It warned that the 2017 budget of the Ministry would not be attended to unless all the details demanded for were fully scrutinized while it would also by Monday proceed on oversight of physical inspection of all the projects being executed by the Ministry as claimed.

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon Akinade-Fijabi stated that the oversight of the projects and the request for the documents were not targeted to wit hunch any individual or the Ministry but to ensure that things were done with due process.

According to him, “with the document before us, there is a need for this Committee to oversight these projects because Nigerians have been  blaming the legislature for not doing its job well.”

“Going forward, we have to look at the procurement process and on-the-spot assessment of these projects has become inevitable.”

“In addition, the Ministry should furnish the Committee with its nominal roll, indicating old and new workers.”

“The provision of the details requested will determine how soon we will embark on the oversight visit and the consideration of the Ministry’s 2017 budget estimates.”

Earlier there was a mild drama between the Committee and the Minister, Alhaji Shittu after he was called upon to reply to all issues raised by members and he said that the Permanent Secretary  of the Ministry, Dr Sunday Echono as the accounting officer of the Ministry should be the one who should speak since he received and spent all the funds being released to the Ministry.

Though the Committee initially insisted that the Minister should be the one to speak for the Ministry as laid down practice but later allowed the Permanent Secretary to reply to all the queries raised and other presentations.