Dogara, Speaker, House of Reps
In
contravention of constitutional provisions, Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo illegally approved the release of the sum of N5, 865, 671,
939.26 in June 2017 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account which
was mismanaged by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), a
report by the House Committee on NEMA has stated.
The
report, whose recommendations were based on findings from a thorough
investigation by the Hon Ali Isa J.C House Committee on Emergency and
Disaster Preparedness was adopted by the House of Representatives
after being considered in the Committee of the Whole Thursday.
The
House noted that the authorisation of the release of the fund for
emergency food intervention of food security in the North East
contravenes Section 80(4) of the 1999 Constitution as amended states
that, “No money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue
Fund or any other public fund of the federation, except in the manner
prescribed by the National Assembly”.
Similarly,
it also breached the provision that the National Assembly must
approve all issuance of Euro Bond from which the minister of Finance
and the Accountant General of the Federation directed the Central
Bank of Nigeria to pay from.
The
funds were paid as follows for supply of food items: Dangote Rice Ltd
N936, 196, 800; Golden Agric Input Ltd N1, 384, 554, 236; BUA Rice
Ltd N1, 322, 273, 520; WACOT Ltd N453, 674, 296; WACOT Ltd N939, 946,
089; NEMA N829, 026, 456.
The
lawmakers agreed that the authorization granted for the withdrawal of
such huge sum of money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account was
highly flawed and had infractions on Section 80(2) of the
Constitution and Section (2) of the Procurement Act, as well as
provisions of the Appropriation Act, did not follow due process as
taxes and interest accruable to the government were not deducted or
remitted to FIRS and no meeting held by the Federal Executive Council
to approve the contracts.
Furthermore, the
funds were credited directly to the individual banks of the companies
and NEMA bank account, a violation of the approval limit allowed by
law. Out of the N5.8 billion, NEMA got N829, 026, 456 for logistics
and claimed it spent N369.5 million on general logistics, N189
million on branding and packaging, N248.6 million on branding and
packaging and N21.9 million on contingency.
They, therefore,
called for the dismissal and prosecution of the director general of
NEMA, Engr Mustapha Maihaja over fraud, corruption and embezzlement
of N33 billion Emergency Intervention Fund, as well as all the
government officials involved in the approval, processing, release
and diversion of the fund; that the Central Bank of Nigeria, being a
banker to the federal government should not have been involved in
giving loans to private companies and as such, ahould be investigated
for the N2 billion loan said to have been given to four named
companies.
The Committee’s
investigation into Breach of Trust In NEMA covered the following
aspects:
(1) Release of N5,
865, 671, 389 and N3, 153, 000, 000. 00 emergency food intervention
of food security in the North East in 2017 (2)6, 779 metric tonnes of
rice donated by the Chinese government to IDPs in the North East
(3)Payment of about N800 million demurrage on the donated rice (4)
over 10 billion naira, being 20 percent statutory ecological funds
released between January 2017 to February 2018 to NEMA (5)Federal
Government’s N1, 600, 000, 000to 16 states in July 2017 for Flood
intervention(6) Over N1.6 billion released to NEMA for evacuation of
Nigerians stranded in Libya in 2017 and other ancilliary issues; N33
billion naira was lost by the federal government due to Maihaja’s
mismanagement and outright embezzlement of funds. The House,
therefore, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve the director
general of NEMA of his duties and hand him over to relevant
authorities for prosecution.
They also called on
the relevant agencies to conduct further investigation on NEMA,
Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Budget and National Planning
in order for them to account for the 6, 779 metric tonnes of rice
donated by the Chinese government for the benefit of IDPs in
Nigeria but was never received by the beneficiaries and prosecute all
found wanting, recover the multiple transaction of N800 million
demurrage from the ministry of Budget and National Planning, Ministry
of Agriculture and NEMA and that the six staff of NEMA who were
suspended for their testimonies before the investigative committee be
reinstated.
On the issue of
receipt and utilisation of N1.6 billion for flood victims in 16
states, the House Condemned the display of insensitivity to the
plight of flood victims showed by NEMA management in the handling of
the relief materials and called on ICPC and EFCC to further
investigate the matter and recover the sum of N700m from the director
general of NEMA, who is the accounting officer of the agency.
See full report as adopted by the House below:
REPORT OF INVESTIGATIVE HEARING ON THE VIOLATION OF PUBLIC TRUST IN THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (NEMA) SUBMITTED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS. HR 52/2018
1.0 PREAMBLE
The House of
Representatives in Plenary on Thursday, 15th February, 2018, mandated
the Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness to investigate
the alleged “Violation of Public Trust in National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA)” and report back to it for further
legislative consideration.
In furtherance to
the above Resolution contained in the Votes and Proceedings of the
House, dated 15th February, 2018, the Committee adopted the following
terms of reference to determine the propriety or otherwise of the
transactions undertaken and expenditures incurred in the following
areas of concern by management of NEMA.
(i) The release of
N5,865,671,389.26 and N3,153,000,000.00 as emergency intervention of
Food Security to support the population affected by insurgency in the
North-East in June 2017 and other releases for the North-East
intervention;
(ii) The 6,779
metric tons of rice donated by Chinese government to the internally
displaced persons in the North-East;
(iii) Payment of
about N800 Million Demurrage on the donated Rice by the Chinese
government;
(iiii) Over 10
Billion Naira being statutory 20% Ecological Funds released between
January 2017 to February 2018 to NEMA;
(v) The Federal
Government of Nigeria Flood Intervention in the sum of
N1,600,000,000.00 to 16 States in July 2017;
(vi) The over N1.6
Billion released to NEMA for Evacuation of Nigerians stranded in
Libya in 2017; and
(vii) Other
ancillary issues.
2.0 MODUS
OPERANDI
The Committee took
the following legislative measures in the course of discharging this
assignment:-
(i) The Committee
held number of meetings to determine its modus operandi;
(ii) Letters were
written to critical stakeholders to elicit their views on the issue
under investigation;
(iii) Committee
placed adverts in both Print and Electronic Media soliciting for
memorandum and sensitizing the Public and stakeholders to the Public
Hearing to ensure overall success of the investigation;
(iiii) All
submissions/documents received at the hearing were objectively
scrutinized and analysed for informed findings and recommendations to
the House for adoption.
3.0 INVESTIGATIVE
PUBLIC HEARING
The Committee
conducted investigative hearing on the matter. The
well-attended hearing was officially declared open on Wednesday, 21st
March, 2018, by His Excellency, the Honourable Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara who was represented by the
House Leader, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. The Committee conducted the
investigation over a period of three months in 11 Public Sitting with
various stakeholders.
Invited stakeholders
who made presentations at the hearing were from:
(i) The National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
(ii) Office of the
Accountant General of the Federation
(iii) Federal
Ministry of Finance
(iiii) Central Bank
of Nigeria
(v) Federal Ministry
of Budget and National Planning
(vi) Federal
Ministry of Agriculture
(vii) Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission
(viii) Governing
Council of NEMA
(ix) Contractors: -
- Dangote Rice Ltd
- BUA
- WACOT
- Golden Agric Input
Ltd.
- Olam Nig. Ltd.
- 3 Brothers Nig.
Ltd.
(x) Office of Head
of Service of the Federation
(xi) The Nigeria
Customs Service
(xii) Nigeria Port
Authority
(xiii) MAESK Line
Clearing and Forwarding Agents & Transporters
(xiiii) APMT &
Maresk Line Clearing Agents & Transporter
(xv) SEMA (16 states
affected by the flood and 5 out of the 6 states of the North East).
(xvi) CAC
(xvii) PENCOM
(xviii) FIRS
(xix) ITF
(xx) NSITF
4.0 ANALYSIS
OF THE SUBMISSIONS
5.0 OBSERVATIONS/FINDINGS
A. DONATION
OF 6,779 METRIC TONS OF RICE BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT FOR IDP’S IN THE
NORTH EAST.
Committee appraised
the submissions made by stakeholders involved in the matter and
observed as follows:
- That the Chinese
government donated and shipped a total of 6,779 metric tons of rice,
that is 271 trucks and approximately 162,696 bags of rice into the
country’s seaport in June 2017 meant for distribution to IDPs in
the North-East as food assistance.
- That the
government Agencies namely – Ministry of Budget and National
Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance and NEMA were
charged with different responsibilities of receiving, clearing,
storage, transportation and distribution of the consignments to the
IDP’s in the North East.
- That
more than one year after the goods were donated, there is no evidence
that the 6 States of the North East, who are the beneficiaries have
received the items.
- Evaluation
of the correspondences by the Chinese government on the free donation
of the items and responses by the Federal government Agencies
confirmed that there was adequate information on the donation, as an
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was entered into by all the parties
indicating the role to be played by each Agency. But the rice could
not be evacuated over long period of time at the seaport despite
written letters by Chinese Government to Ministry of Budget and
National Planning after an import waiver had been obtained from
Ministry of Finance, informing the Nigerian authorities of the
consequences of the delay in clearing the items.
- The Federal
Government paid about N800 Million as demurrage to APM terminal and
Maersk Line for the consignment due to delay arising from inability
and negligence on part of NEMA, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of
Finance and Ministry of Budget and National Planning to secure the
items as at when due.
- APM
Terminal provided invoices on the demurrage showing payment by
Ministry of Agriculture but NEMA testified it made the payment. NEMA
could not however, provide before the Committee evidence of payment
to APM terminal but the payment reflected in their account book.
-
Ministry of Budget and National Planning was to provide the funding
for the clearing, transportation of the rice, handling and logistic
charges as agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the
Government Agencies.
-
Ministry of Agriculture was responsible for providing silos for the
storage of the rice.
- The
Ministry of Agriculture confirmed to the Committee that no single bag
of the consignments was delivered and received from NEMA as at the
time of this report.
-
Global View Logistics Ltd and Baltic Air and Maritime Services Ltd
engaged to clear the rice were not registered contractors with NEMA,
the Companies were equally not registered with ITF, NSITF, and
PENCOM, as required by existing law, practice and Regulations.
-
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was saddled with the
responsibility of delivering the consignments to different designated
silos and to distribute all the 6779 metric tons of the Chinese rice
to the IDPs within the 6 States in the North-East in the following
proportion:
S/No
|
States
|
Percentage
and Tons
|
Equivalence
in Trucks
|
1
|
Borno
|
35%
= 2,372.7 M/Tons
|
79.09
Trucks
|
2
|
Yobe
|
20%
= 1355.8 M/Tons
|
45.1
Trucks
|
3
|
Adamawa
|
15%
= 1016.85 M/Tons
|
33.89
Trucks
|
4
|
Gombe
|
10%
= 677.9 M/Tons
|
22.5
Trucks
|
5
|
Bauchi
|
5%
= 339 M/Tons
|
11.3
Trucks
|
6
|
Taraba
|
5%
= 399 M/Tons
|
11.3
Trucks
|
7
|
Kwali
FCT
|
10%
= 677.9 M/Tons
|
22.5
Trucks
|
TOTAL
|
225.5
Trucks
|
Ministry of Finance
provided Certificate for Import tax waiver with tax deduction on the
consignments donated to Nigeria by Chinese government
The 5 State
governments in the North-East except Borno State who did not appear
before Committee, denied receiving any single bag of rice from the
consignment purported to have been delivered and distributed to the
IDPs by NEMA.
- Due to the
testimony of the Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA) and some
staff of NEMA on payment of demurrage which the management was not
comfortable with, NEMA management hurriedly convened a Governing
Council meeting of NEMA for the first time in 3 years where it took a
decision to suspend the Director of Finance and 5 other staff of the
Agency without due process and in flagrant violation of the principle
of fair hearing as guaranteed under Section 36 of the 1999
Constitution as amended.
- The
suspension took place on 2nd April, 2018 which was the date of the
inauguration of the Council Members by the Vice President. This was
done within the period of investigation by the Committee, and
intended to jeopardise and obstruct the work of the Committee.
B. RECEIPT
AND UTILIZATION OF N1.6 BILLION FOR FLOOD VICTIMS IN 16 STATES
FINDINGS:
- NEMA
confirmed receiving the sum of N1.6 Billion released to it by the
Federal Government as Intervention Fund to purchase food items and
other relief materials for distribution to all the 16 States which
was affected by the flood disaster in June 2017. The States are:
Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Kwara, Ebonyi, Niger, Ekiti, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom,
Plateau, Sokoto, Bayelsa, Enugu, Ondo, Abia State and FCT
- The
ratio of distribution of the fund for each State is N100,000,000.00.
- The Committee
further confirmed that 11 of the States received relief items worth
less than N50,000,000.00 each while 5 States received items worth
N70,000,000.00 each from NEMA and only received the items in March
2018 when the investigative hearing commenced.
- The
relief materials released was an afterthought and not intended to
salvage the situation as the disbursement happened 9 months after the
flood disaster. Thereby defeating the emergency purpose for which it
was meant.
- NEMA could
only account for the disbursement of N900 Million to the Sixteen
States. The balance of N700 Million could not be accounted for.
C. FUNDS
RELEASED FOR EMERGENCY INTERVENTION OF FOOD SECURITY
IN THE NORTH-EAST
FINDINGS:
- On
the emergency intervention of food security to the North-East to
support the population ravaged by insurgency, a sum of
N5,865,671,939.26 was approved and released in June 2017 vide a memo
raised from the Office of the Acting President, directing the Hon.
Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to
so act. The details further specified a directive to the
Governor of CBN from the Ministry of Finance to pay the sum from
the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account which the AGF is to
raise a mandate for. This is in contravention of
approval of NASS on the issuance of Euro Bond from which the Hon.
Minister authorized the payment. The Euro Bond is for specified
infrastructural projects and not for discretionary intervention.
Furthermore, there is no specific appropriation by the National
Assembly.
This contravenes
Section 80 (4) of the 1999 constitution as amended: which states:
“No
money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any
other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed
by the National Assembly”.
The money was paid
to the following companies for supply of food items to the North
East:-
1. Dangote Rice Ltd.
= N936,196,800.00
2. Golden Agric
Input Ltd. = N1,384,554,236.26
3. BUA Rice Ltd. =
N1,322,273,520.00
4. WACOT Ltd. =
N453,674,296.00
5. WACOT Ltd =
N939,946,089.00
6. NEMA
= N829,026,456.00
= N5,865,671,389.26
-
Committee noted the flaws and infractions on the authorization
granted and removal of such huge sum of money from the Consolidated
Revenue Fund Account of the Federation in violation of section 80(2)
of the Constitution, Section 16(2) of the Procurement Act and
provisions of the Appropriation Act as approval of the Legislature
was not sought nor obtained for such expenditure.
- Due process
was not followed as taxes and interest accruable to government were
not deducted and remitted to the FIRS on the sums released and paid
into the accounts of the different corporate entities shown above,
this created colossal loss of revenue to the Federal Government.
No meeting of the
Federal Executive Council was held approving the contracts to the
named companies and the release and crediting of the funds directly
into the individual companies and NEMA bank account in blatant
violation of approval limit allowed by law.
- It was
revealed in the Public Hearing testimonies that Dangote Rice Ltd,
WACOT Ltd, BUA Rice Ltd and Golden Agric Input Ltd had earlier
received N2billion each from CBN as loan to mop up grains across the
country.
- All the 6 States
of the North East denied ever receiving this emergency intervention
for food security in the North East for which about N5.8b was
expended by the Federal Government.
- Out of
about N5.8Billion. NEMA got N829,026,456 for logistics and it claimed
it spent it as follows, without satisfactory evidence:
(i) General Logistic
N369.5 million
(ii) Branding and
packaging N189.00 million
(iii) Others
(Marketing, Security, tracking and media) N248.6 million
(iiii) Contingency
N21.9 million
D. RELEASE
OF N3,153,000,000.00 TO NEMA FOR FOOD INTERVENTION TO THE NORTH-EAST
FINDING:
- The
Committee noted that NEMA released 2.4 Billion Naira to Olam
Nigeria Limited to supply 8,000 metric tons of rice, gave 3
Brother Rice Mill Limited the
contract to supply 2,000 metric tons of rice at N600,000,000 and
N153,160,000 for logistics and transportation of the items, all
totaling N3,153,000,000.00.
-
Committee observed that Olam Nigeria
Limited and 3 Brother Rice Mill Limited were
contacted verbally by Ministry of Agriculture to go to NEMA for the
jobs without due process.
- The
contract award letters issued to Olam Nigeria Limited and
3 Brothers Rice Ltd were all signed by the Ag. Director of Relief and
Rehabilitation and not by Director of Procurement in contravention of
Public Procurement Act.
- The same
Ag. Director of Relief and Rehabilitation who was saddled with the
responsibilities of receiving the items and distributing them, signed
the award letters without the knowledge of the Procurement
Department. This is tantamount to breach of the Procurement Act.
- Evidence before
the Committee showed that the World Food Programme (WFP) sought to
import and supply 5000 metric tons of rice to the North East, at the
rate of N11,500 per bag which is cheaper than the N15,000 per bag
offered by local Nigerian millers. However, the Committees findings
indicate that the concerned Federal Government agencies namely
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and NEMA offered to subsidise the
purchase locally, at the same rate of N11,500 to World Food Programme
to discourage importation and encourage local production.
- NEMA now claimed
to have donated the 5000 metric tons of rice to WFP instead of
allowing WFP to purchase same and distribute to the North East. There
is no evidence that the WFP received the 5000 metric tons as donation
from NEMA, as the approval of N3.1billion was for NEMA to purchase
the rice and distribute same to the victims of insurgency in the
North East, as WFP did not provide the Committee with such evidence
after repeated requests.
- Both companies,
Olam Nigeria Ltd and 3 Brothers Rice Mill Ltd, were illegally
contracted to carry out the supplies as their profiles showed that
they had no PENCOM, FIRS, ITF and NSITF Clearance Certificates in
compliance to Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act.
- The data of
3 Brothers Rice Ltd sighted by the Committee did not tally with
registration name “Three Brothers Rice Mill Ltd” approved by
Corporate Affairs Commission which means NEMA gave contract to a
non-existent entity.
Therefore the
contract awarded to both Olam and 3 Brothers were in violation of the
Procurement Act.
E. EVACUATION
OF NIGERIANS FROM LIBYA
FINDINGS
- Committee
confirmed that the sum of N1.6Billion was released to NEMA for the
evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Libya in year 2017.
- The Committee also
discovered that contract awarded under this exercise were inflated.
- In the course of
the investigations, the Director-General of NEMA, Eng. Mustapha
Yunusa Maihaja, gives account of expenditure as the N1.6Billion to
include evacuations, security personnel logistics and local
transport.
F. UNACCOUNTED
N17,889,050,401 RELEASED FROM ECOLOGICAL FUND TO NEMA
FINDINGS
- The Committee
established that 20% of the Statutory Ecological funds are released
to the National Emergency Management Agency on monthly basis. This is
in compliance with Section 13(2B) of the NEMA Act.
- It was discovered
that from January 2017 to May 2018 the total amount released and or
received by NEMA is to the tune of N17Billion.
- Furthermore, NEMA
incurs expenditure from the fund without going through statutory
appropriation approval from the Legislative Arm of Government.
- The Committee
noted that the failure of the Governing Council of NEMA to forward
the details of the amount released to it to the National Assembly for
Appropriation, consideration by the Legislature and passage is a
gross violation of the provisions of the Constitution.
- Due process was
also not followed by NEMA on the contract sums as the Director
General exceeded his approval threshold for both capital and
recurrent expenditure. Withholding and Value Added Taxes accruable to
government for contracts executed were not remitted to FIRS; thus,
resulting to loss of revenue by Government in violation of Section 16
(1&2) of National Emergency Management Act CAP N34 LFN 2004.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. On the issue
of donation of 6,779 metric tons of rice by Chinese Government for
IDP’s in the North East, the Committee recommends as follows:
(i.) that the House
condemns in strong terms the negligence and inefficiency of the
Ministry of Budget and National Planning and National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) for the long delay in collection of the
donated rice from the Port Terminal.
(ii) that
NEMA and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Budget and
National Planning should account for the 6,779 Metric tons of Rice
donated to Nigeria Government for the benefit of IDP’s in the 6
States of the North East by the Chinese Government but was never
received by the beneficiaries. The ICPC, EFCC and Nigeria Police
Force (Police) should conduct further investigation and prosecute
where necessary.
(iii) that the ICPC,
EFCC and Police should ensure recovery of the payment of about N800m
demurrage from the concerned officers of the Ministry of Budget and
National Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and NEMA. They should
further investigate the conflicting testimonies of the above agencies
and determine whether there was multiple payment transaction for the
demurrage.
(iv) that the
suspension of six staff of NEMA by its management is an abuse of
power, against the extant public service rules and a gross violation
of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. It is also a
privileged communication under the Legislative Houses (Powers and
Privileges) Act, any person that obstructs a witness before a
legislative House is also guilty of contempt of parliament.
(v) It is
therefore hereby recommended that the affected staff below be
immediately re-instated by NEMA and the appropriate authorities and
all their arrears of entitlements paid. They are:
1.
Mr. Akinbola Hakeem - Director, Finance and Accounts
2. Alhassan
Nuhu - Director Disaster & Risk
Reduction
3. Mr. Emenike
Umesi - Ag. Director, Special Duties
4. Mohammed
Kanar - Deputy Director Welfare
5. Mr. Mamman
Ibrahim - DD Captain of the Air Ambulance
6. Yunusa Deji
Ganiyu - Asst. Chief Administrative Officer
2. On the issue of
receipt and utilization of N1.6 billion for flood victims in 16
states, the Committee recommends;
(i.) that the House
condemns in its entirety the display of insensitivity to the plight
of flood victims showed by NEMA management in the handling of the
relief materials.
(ii) that the
ICPC and EFCC should further investigate the matter and recover the
sum of N700m from the Director-General of NEMA, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa
Maihaja, who is the Accounting Officer of the Agency.
3. On the issue of
funds released for emergency intervention of food security in
the north-east, the Committee recommends;
(i.) that all the
government officials involved in the approval, processing, release
and diversion of the sum of N5.8billion for the emergency
intervention of food security in the North East, which contravened
the provisions of S.80(2) and 80(4) of the Constitution, infraction
of due process for procurement and loss of government revenue,
flouting of the terms of the Eurobond loan are hereby indicted and
the relevant Security Agencies should take steps to recover the money
from them.
(ii.) that the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) being a banker to the Federal
Government should not be involved in giving loans to private
companies. Consequently, the N2billion said to be given to four named
companies is a fundamental infraction and should be further
investigated.
4. On the issue of
release of N3,153,000,000.00 to NEMA for food intervention to the
North-East, the Committee recommends,
(i.) that ICPC and
EFCC should recover N1,150,000,000.00 being subsidised cost of 5000
metric tons of rice from the present Director General of NEMA, Eng.
Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja, who claimed to have donated same to World
Food Programme (WFP) when they were ready to pay for it or import
same.
(ii.) that in view
of the fact that there is evidence that the balance of 5,000 metric
tons claimed to have been supplied by Olam Nig. Ltd and 3 Brothers
Nig. Ltd at the cost of about N1.5billion to NEMA was not received by
the States of the North-East, the money should therefore be recovered
from the Director-General, NEMA.
5. On the
matter concerning evacuation of Nigerians from Libya, the Committee
recommends as follows:
(i.) that Federal
Government should make available adequate funds to the relevant
agencies of government for the rehabilitation of those Nigerians
evacuated from abroad, in order to prevent them from going back.
(ii.) that the
process, procedure, method and cost of evacuation of Nigerians
stranded abroad is opaque and should be made more transparent in
order to ensure better accountability.
6. On the question
of unaccounted N17,889,050,401 released from Ecological Fund to NEMA,
the Committee recommends
(i.) that NEMA
should submit through the appropriate authority all the Ecological
funds accruing to it yearly to the National Assembly for
Appropriation in order to meet the Constitutional requirements.
(ii.) that a
comprehensive investigation into the receipt and utilization of 20%
Ecological Fund to NEMA over the years be carried out by the House.
7. From the
investigation conducted by this Committee it has been established
that the Federal Government of Nigeria lost a total sum of over N33
Billion Naira as a result of mismanagement or outright embezzlement
of funds occasioned by the actions or inactions of the Managing
Director of NEMA, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja . It is hereby
consequently recommended that the Director General of NEMA, Engr.
Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja, be relieved of his duties by Mr President,
Commander in Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria and handed over to
relevant authorities for prosecution.
7. CONCLUSION
The Committee
expresses its appreciation to the Leadership and Members of the House
for the opportunity given to us to serve, as we pledge our
unflinching support to the House leadership.
Hon. Ali Isa
J.C Sulyman Mohammed Sarkin-Noma
Deputy Chairman
Committee Clerk
12
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