•Warn MDAs against delay tactics

•Demand relevant documents on all expenditures

By Gift ChapiOdekina

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, PAC, yesterday warned ministries departments and agencies, MDAs, that it would not entertain delay tactics as it begins full scale probe into alleged mismanagement of COVID-19 intervention funds from 2020 to 2023.

Addressing the opening session, chairman of the committee Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun), said:  ” The committee is probing over 60 MDAs over several billions of naira intervention funds allocated to them during COVID-19 pandemic and we have given them enough time to prepare for this exercise.

”The committee will not entertain any extension of time from any of the MDAs.  The committee is not after any individual or groups, we are going to be diligent in carrying out our assignment.”

He urged the Accountant General of the Federatiom whose office was very important to the assignment, to make available relevant and competent personnel to the committee to facilitate the assignment.

Some of the MDAs that appeared before the committee included Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospitals, Baruch; Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy; Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; Federal Ministry of Water Resources; and Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, among others.

The committee directed the chief medical director of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital Baruch, Prof Yusuf Jubrin, to reappear  before it on Thursday with relevant documents to back up the funds released to the institution during the period.

While grilling the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Communication Innovation and Digital Economy and the Procurement Officer , Mohammed Ibrahim, and Mrs Margaret Ebute, respectively, the committee members picked several holes in the documents submitted before it.

Consequently, it directed the officials to go back and reappear with relevant documents, such as vouchers, documentary evidence on the expenditure of the N3billion allocated to the ministry during the period.

The committee also frowned on the awards of the several contracts on the same day and the claim of exclusive rights of certain contractors to provide certain services without following principles of federal character and due process.

It equally faulted the claims of the ministry on the expenditure on training programes organized during the total lockdown in the country and directed it to provide relevant documents on it and the venues of such training programes.