Reps query N/Delta ministry over N43m cleaning contract

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has queried the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs over cleaning contracts worth N43 million annually.

The committee headed by Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) said it based its query on the report of the Auditor General of the Federation.

The panel said there was no evidence to show that the cleaning contract was duly paid for and documented.

Thus, the committee asked the ministry to provide evidence within the next two weeks.

The committee also gave the new Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Aminu Bisalla, two weeks to provide evidence of a N4 million contract for the supply of bulbs to the ministry.

It said the auditor general’s report indicated that the N4m contract was not properly documented.

Chinda said, “We have observed the excessive use of funds for advances, and we have consistently frowned at it. We are aware that anything above N200,000 should go through contract, but we discovered that this provision is being abused.

“There is no clear evidence that these goods were brought to the store and the ministry could not provide answer when it was queried,” he said.

The permanent secretary pleaded with the lawmakers to give him more time to sort out all the relevant documents before getting back.