N6bn Intervention Fund: Reps Query NERC, Give Two Weeks To Explain Utilization Or Face Sanction

Nigerian House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Unspent Funds has queried the authorization given to the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission NERC to spend the N6 billion given to the agency by the Presidency as an Intervention Fund.

The House also gave the agency two weeks to provide the documents authorizing it to expend the money or face parliamentary sanctions

Chairman of the Committee Hon. Charles Uduyok who stated this on Monday during an investigative hearing on Unspent Funds by MDAs, at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja ordered the agency to provide reasons for the mopping up of the unspent capital projects funds by the agency.

The Ad-hoc Committee also queried the utilization of the N97 million, N81 million and. N45 million given to the agency in Jan 2018, Jan 2019 and April 2019 as budgeted funds.

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The other lawmakers also noted that 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 budgets of the agency were not signed before it was presented to the probe panel.

However, the representative of the Chairman of NERC at the hearing Mr Ignatius Ayiwo stated that the agency has expanded most part of the funds on the training of staff.

He further noted that there was N66 million accessed by the agency that was not included in the report presented to the probe panel.

Consequently, the committee chairman asked that the agency re-appear again on Monday, June 15, 2020, to defend their unspent budgeted funds.