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…We received N22bn from FG, spent N164.9m on returnees – PTF
…As NCDC lament low level of testing on people’s refusal to come forward
The House of Representatives joint committee on Public Accounts, Health Services and Anti Corruption on Monday threatened to issue a Bench Warrant against the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris if he fails to show up before its investigative panel on June15, 2020.
The lawmakers in session passed this resolution in reaction to his deliberate refusal to appear before the joint committee, to explain the status of funds mobilized by the federal government for the purpose of fighting the covid-19 pandemic.
Rep. Oluwole Oke, the lead chairman gave the ruling following realization that the primary focus of the hearing which is on procurement and expenditure from mobolized resources could only be actualized using details provided by the Accountatnt General’s office.
Lawmakers, upon engaging with the team, found that none of the agencies embedded in the PTF has control over the federal government covid-19 intervention funds domiciled in the CBN.
But the Accountant General who is said to have all the details was conspicuously absent from the hearing despite invitation to that effect.
This was as the Presidential Task Force on covid-19 has disclosed that the sum of N22,123,130,411.00 has so far been released to it from the Central Bank of Nigeria to help its operations in curbing the spread of the pandemic.
The PTF however informed the joint panel that out of the said amount, only N164,929,475.96.00 has been spent to provide isolated accommodations and feeding for Nigerian returnees who were airlifted in from different countries during the global lockdown.
Addressing the joint panel on Monday, the Permanent Secratery at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olusegun Adeyemi, who led the team to the House said resources were mobilized through donor partners and that the resources are not just handed over to the PTF, as all donor fundings went straight to the CBN.
“N22,123,130,411.00 has been released to the PTF operations account, and we are bound by the procurement Act and Appropriation just as the PTF is determined to ensure accountability and judicial utilization of the fund”, Adeyemi told lawmakers.
He said the sum of N164,929,.96.00 has been spent out of the money to evacuate Nigerians stranded abroad from March to date.
While informing that the balance is intact in the account, the Permsec also disclosed that the Nigeria Air Force has assisted in donating aircrafts and personnel for the evacuation of equipment from one point to another where they are needed.
Asked what is the actual balance left in the account, he said every detail is with the Accountant General’s office.
Chairman Oke who led the proceedings said there was need to have the Accountant General explain and confirm the information.
He ruled that the committee ahould also write to the CBN governor, Godwin Emfiele to furnish it with the account statement of the PTF.
Asked if there was any fund given as assistance to states and why they did not reflect in the report, the PermSec said the PTF only provides leadership in the fight against covid-19 and doesn’t collect donations nor grants from donors.
Addressing the issues of low level testing in Nigeria compared to other African countries, such as Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), attributed the development to the refusal of Nigerians to make themselves available for testing.
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who is the Director General of the Centre told the joint panel that there is community transmission of the virus going on, but many have refused to utilize NCDC facilities nearest to them to ascertain their status.
He said such trend is the reason why the number of confirmed cases still stands at 11,000 after 3 months in a country of over 200 million population.