Alleged budget padding: Senate summons Niyi Adebayo, NEPZA MD over illegally releasedN15 billion

THE Senate has summoned former governor of Ekiti State and Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo to appear before it over alleged N15 billion allocated to a private company in the budget.

Also summoned to appear before the Senator Rose Oko, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Cross River North is the Acting, Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority ( NEPZA), Terhembe Nongo.

With the summon, the Senate is asking NEPZA to give full details of what happened and their response was the money was allocated to them in 2017 and as at then the company was not in existence.

It would be recalled that the 8th Senate had directed the acting Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Terhemba Nongo, to return N14.3bn to the purse of the Federal Government.

According to the 8th Senate, the money was diverted from the 2017 budget of NEPZA. Speaking yesterday in Abuja while presenting the report of her Committee to the Committee on Appropriations, Senator Oko said that during the budget defence of the Ministry, she asked the Minister and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry on the purpose of the N15 billion in the budget which they were unable to defend .

According to her, when the Minister came for budget defence and the Permanent Secretary told the Senate then that they didn’t know anything about the issue as it is between Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and the company. Senator Oko explained that the Committee had asked for the shareholding structure from the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, the documents provided did not reveal the identity of the shareholders. Oko told the Senate Committee on Appropriations that the Committee has asked NEPZA to give full details of what happened and their response was that the money was allocated to them in 2017 and as at then the company was not in existence, adding that the money was released in 2017 to the company when it was not yet registered in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Oko said,

“The company was registered in 2018; meanwhile the money was already allocated in 2017 which is domiciled in CBN. More so, N15billion was released two days ago to the same company.” In his remarks, Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, Senator Barau Jubrin said   that the Committee directed the NEPZA MD, Minister and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry to appear on Monday to correct the anomaly. He said, “We will fix a date for you to come with the Minister and the permanent secretary alongside the MD of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) on Monday by 11am to correct this anomaly.” Vanguard