The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SURE-P funds

  • Don’t question me on how I spent SURE-P funds, Perm Sec tells EFCC in court

    A FORMER Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Clement Illoh, yesterday told an Ikeja Special Offences Court that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has no right to question him on how he spent SURE- P funds.

    Illoh is standing trial for allegedly stealing N14.1 million from Sure-P funds.

    Illoh was being cross-examined by the EFCC lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo on how the N14.1million disbursed to his personal account by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) was spent.

    “You don’t have the right to ask me such questions. Why are you asking me such questions? Besides, the money in question wasn’t budgeted for neither was it appropriated, because it wasn’t the ministry’s fund.

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    “I collected the money in the capacity of my official office, but it was NIMASA’s money that I spent and not from the Ministry of Labour’s office.

    “I wrote a memo requesting for the transfer of N14m from maritime to my business account called Clement and Bob Associates, wherein Access Bank was asked to debit NIMASA and credit my account.

    “The money was paid to my personal account by NIMASA in a form of non-personal advance,” he said.

    The former permanent secretary also told the court that he didn’t keep any receipts to show transfer of funds neither did he write any memo to his superiors stating that NIMASA disbursed such an amount to him.

    The EFCC had earlier arraigned Illoh on a three-count charge, bordering on stealing by conversion of property to the tune of N14.1 million.

    The ex-permanent secretary, who admitted remitting N616 million to the Federal Government upon arrest, said N3.5 million, which was the funds leftover from the N14.1 million budgeted for the meetings, was expended on logistics, honorarium, stationeries and transport.

    “I paid the sum of N3.5 million to Mr. John Tsonwa, my late special assistant and he is the only person who has the details of how the money was used, but sadly he is late,” he said.

    Illoh, however, denied taking money from the defunct Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

    He said he was aware that the EFCC recovered funds from his office and some contractors but claimed that the deceased managed the sum of N3.4 million for the workshop.

    Illoh also agreed that it was his duty to comply with the financial regulations of the Federal Government regarding disbursement of funds or how funds ought to be expended.

    Oyedepo  tendered the statement of the deceased man in evidence.

    Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo thereafter adjourned the matter till December 3 for continuation of trial.

     

  • El-Rufai warns on ‘plan to divert’ SURE-P funds

    El-Rufai warns on ‘plan to divert’ SURE-P funds

    Kaduna State Governor-elect, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday reacted to attempt by the outgoing administration in the state to secure approval for its plan to spend N2.744 billion SURE-P funds.

    El-Rufai alleged that the government has put pressure on the Kaduna State House of Assembly for approval to spend the funds, barely two weeks to the end of its tenure.

    The Nation had reported on Saturday that the All Progressive Congress caucus in the Assembly had threatened to impeach the outgoing Governor Muktar Ramallan Yero over the SURE-P funds.

    The Governor-elect spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this in a statement issued in Kaduna on Monday that the incoming administration in the state will punish anyone found culpable in the SURE-P funds’ diversion.

    The statement quoted El-Rufai as saying, “I have been made aware of desperate attempts to secure approval to spend N2.744 billion Sure-P funds. Less than two weeks to its exit, the outgoing government of Kaduna State is seeking to pressure the outgoing House of Assembly to permit it to spend 50 per cent of the money on the Kawo road project, while the 23 local government councils will share the balance.

    “As governor-elect, it is my duty to caution every official involved in these last-minute deals that the incoming government will ensure that there are consequences for illegal conduct, breach of trust and stealing of public assets. Our government will certainly insist on accountability, and no one should be in any doubt about our resolve, be it the instigators of any impropriety or those who facilitated and executed it.

    “Our  transition committee is daily inundated with reports about the dire financial straits in which the outgoing government has placed the state. While I await the formal submission of the committee’s report, I am compelled to publicly affirm that we cannot and will not turn a blind eye to bad behavior.”

  • Senate accuses minister of failure to account for N30b SURE-P funds

    Senate accuses minister of failure to account for N30b SURE-P funds

    The Senate yesterday accused the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen for ‘refusing’ to account for N30 billion appropriated for his ministry for Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) projects.

    Chairman, Committee on SURE-P Senator Abdul Ningi, who made the allegation, threatened that the Senate might be forced to give zero allocation to SURE-P in the 2015 budget.

    Ningi addressed a news conference in Abuja over the alleged refusal of the minister to appear before his committee to account for the scheme’s funds.

    He said that members of the committee waited for over two hours for the minister to honour a scheduled meeting without any word from him.

    Ningi noted that by refusing to appear before the committee to answer questions for his actions, the Minister was clearly undermining President Goodluck Jonathan.

    He described the minister’s action as “a show of lawlessness and crass ignorance of the law.”

    He said: “We are all aware that huge sum of money was appropriated to the Ministry of Works to execute SURE-P projects. We sat here from 2pm and we have been waiting to hear from the Minister of Works, Minister of State for Works or even the Permanent Secretary.

    “The Minister acknowledged receipt of our invitation. We want to tell the person who appointed them that he appointed the wrong people.”

    Insisting that the action of the Minister is “completely unacceptable” Ningi said that nobody should be allowed to treat the Senate with contempt.

    He said that the Senate would take every available legal action to take the Minister to the Committee to account for the funds.

    He said: “They (ministers) are trying to undermine the President and frustrate the country. We cannot take it. They cannot frustrate this committee. It is important that this message be taken to the President that the ministers are undermining him.

    “Otherwise we can refuse to appropriate funds for the programme in the 2015 budget. This is a programme so many people are asking questions and the minister will not come to say what he is doing with funds appropriated to him.

    ‘We take very strong exception to the non appearance of the Minister of Works. It is no longer business as usual.”

    Ningi said that his Committee was also interested to know the beneficiaries of N3,000 said to have been paid to 10,000 youths in each state under SURE-P youth scheme.

    He said that his committee requested for the list of beneficiaries for more than one month without success.

  • Senate, House query N58b SURE-P funds for foreign contractors

    Senate, House query N58b SURE-P funds for foreign contractors

    •N2.2b spent on secretariat services

    • Travel bills hit N75m

    The joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) yesterday queried the N58 billion the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) paid foreign railway contractors in four months.

    The joint committee also questioned the N75 million SURE-P claimed to have spent on local travels in four months.

    The lawmakers were also uncomfortable with the N2.2 billion claimed to have spent on secretariat services between July and October 2012.

    The issues were raised when officials of SURE-P led by Chairman of the programme, Dr. Christopher Kolade, appeared before the joint committee to defend the 2013 budget of SURE-P.

    To start the session, Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Magnus Abe, said the desire of the lawmakers was to understand where the SURE-P was heading to.

    He noted that the fund allocated to SURE-P was not the ordinary crude oil money to be shared by individuals, saying nobody should take questions by members of the committee personal, as it was incumbent on them to explain to their constituents the utilization of Federal Government funds

    Kolade explained that whatever they do under the programme is based on transparency, probity and accountability.

    He said there was no reason for them to hide information on what they are doing.

    A member of the committee, Senator Benedict Ayade, wondered why the SURE-P paid N58 billion to multi-national contractors on rail line projects. The lawmaker from Cross River North also questioned the N75 million spent on local travels in four months.

    He said the implication of paying foreign contractors N58 billion in four months was that the money would have been transferred out of the country.

    Ayade said: “I though that the philosophy of SURE-P is creation of jobs for Nigerians. Now that major contracts under SURE-P are done by multi-national contractors, how will SURE-P achieve its philosophy and objectives?

    “Is the philosophy of SURE-P no longer empowerment of Nigerians?”

    Ayade also said it was obvious that SURE-P projects are not evenly distributed across the states, adding that “SURE-P is just going the way of other Nigerian committees.”

    He said money was being recklessly pumped to multi-national companies in the name of fighting unemployment, wondering why SURE-P has taken over the functions of Primary Health Centres in the country.

    The committee wanted to know what the Ministry of Work is doing when SURE-P has taken over payment of contractors.