BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

ABUJA — THE House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, Ethics and Values has summoned the Director General of National Directorate of Employment, Mallam Mohammed Abubakar, over how he allegedly spent N44million Millenium Development Goals, MDGs, fund to commission three centres.

Vanguard reliably gathered that the committee, while going through the 2013 expenditure of the agency, uncovered how the agency allegedly recorded that it spent N44 million to commission three centres.

A source said this discovery irked chairman of the committee who demanded the invitation of the agency’s director-general.

According to him, the DG was asked to appear on March 16,  but  deliberately avoided the committee and turned down the invitation.

In the document made available to Vanguard, the agency spent N16,077,842.14 in commissioning of Araromi training centre in Ibadan and another N16,077,842.14 on Onipanu training centre also in Ibadan.

Another training centre located in Bwari was commissioned with over N12m, bringing the total amount spent by the agency in commissioning three centres to N44m.

The committee also queried the cost of replenishment of consumables at NDE/MDGs skills centres put at N2m each which appeared in 13 sub-heads totalling N26m.

It was also gathered that the committee queried why N17,952,000.00 was spent on fueling of generating sets for on training cycle at N50,000.00 per centre.

Vanguard further gathered that members of the committee were angered because the DG shunned their invitation and threatened that the committee must get to the bottom of the matter.

He said:   “We will like to know how he spent MDG funds to commission centres whether one meat pie or scissors used to cut the tape cost N1 million.

”Even MDG uses N23m to build a block of three classrooms including furniture, yet our NDE, an agency designed to alleviate poverty, squandered N44million on commissioning ceremonies.  We also expect him to tell us what he meant by training consumables which appeared in 13 sub-heads.

”Why he also used an MDG  intervention fund for such spurious expenditure, we need answers to those things we queried.

”The most annoying part of it all is the fact that the MDG intervention fund is billed to end in 2015. “

When contacted, Chairman, House Committee on Anti-Corruption, Abiodun Faleke, confirmed that the committee had issued another summon to the DG.

He said:   “We know what to do if he turns down this committee again because he has no reason to disrespect our invitation.”