Reps committee demands explanation from Ministry of Finance over funding without due process

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Assets has queried the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) for taking money from the budget for its operation without following due process.

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Chairman of the Committee, Ademorin Kuye, queried the agency as its Managing Director, Dr Armstrong Takang, appeared before it to give an account of their activities.

He said, “In your report, we would like you to refer us to the section of the law where you are permitted to take money from the budget. How you have been getting funded since you came into office?”

According to Kuye, the agency wasted the Committee’s time as it did not provide any answer to its questions.

He also demanded various documents from the agency on the assets it was managing, saying they must be submitted within seven days.

The committee also knocked the agency for operating without proper legislation establishing it.

“This is an agency we had high hopes of. What we request of you now is this class of assets, including shares of publicly traded entities, limited liability entities and foreign-based and other businesses. A list of these assets at home and abroad. Improvements that you have made thereupon and how it has helped the GDP.

“Another class is assets is the financial assets, which include public and private equities investments, fixed income and hedge funds, fixed assets include real estate. We need you to give us a list of those estates.

We would like to have the value of each of these real assets, revenue made through them for the past ten years and the contributions they have made to the GDP.

“Another class is the cash flow generating transactions such as the concession agreement and the public-private partnerships. We want a list of those concessions under your care and tell us the revenue with evidence from such concessions.

“The last class of assets are the minerals and the intangible assets, which includes the hydrocarbon. We want to know the extent of your investments in them and what has come to Nigeria as a result of those investments,” Kuye added.