Reps Probe Institute’s N2bn Spending, Bank Of Agric Debts

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Accounts has resolved to investigate the utilisation of the N2bn paid to the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development for Intervention on COVID-19 from the Service Wide Vote account by the Federal Government.

Chairman of the committee, Oluwole Oke, called for the probe when the acting Director of Finance and Accounts of the institute, Mr Dzarma Levis, appeared before the panel to defend spending of releases made through the SWV from 2013 to 2020.

Levis could not give satisfactory explanations to all the questions raised by the members of the committee on how the intervention fund was disbursed, which prompted a member to call for probe.

Consequently, the committee set up a sub-committee to probe how the N2bn was spent.

Oke said, “They collected N2bn in 2020 for COVID-19 intervention. The committee has perused their submission and it is not satisfied with the claims of the agency because the due process certificate presented was not signed. So, the committee is worried. So, the committee thus resolved that a sub-committee be set up to go and inspect the claims of what the agency claimed to have done with the N2bn.”

Meanwhile, the committee demanded the full list of those who borrowed billions of naira from the Bank of Agriculture over the years but have refused to pay up their debts.

Oke gave the directive when a delegation of the BoA led by its acting Managing Director, Ali Hassan, appeared before the committee on Wednesday.