By Disun Amosun
Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Science Engineering, Rep Inuwa Garba has said that some agencies under its purview have not lived up to their mandate since establishment, thereby risking the Committee’s recommendation for their scrapping
This is as the Committee lambasted the Director-General of the Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHETSCO) Mr Paul Onyenekwe and other officials of the agency over award of contract and non-completion of projects in Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe states.
Speaking during the budget defence in Abuja yesterday, the Committee Chairman threatened that the panel pledges would recommend to the House the scraping of such agencies in line with the Steve Oronsanye report, if they refuse to buckup.
According to him, a lot of discrepancies are been discovered in some of the agency’s budget presentation.
He said “Most of their budgets are mere repetition and to an extent, some agencies don’t even want anybody to know what they are doing. The question you will ask is different from the answer that you are supposed to get from some of the agencies.”
“Though some of them are very relevant and up and doing, supportive of government policies and programs, when we finish, we are coming out with a definite stand our stand as a committee and present our report to the appropriation committee.
“Subsequently, we can make our position and proposal to the House very soon in order to help the government and to help the country”, he said.
Reacting, Inuwa said, “I will not say it now because we are yet to come to a final conclusion. But when we complete the exercise, we will come up with recommendations that will whip erring agencies back to shape.
“A lot of abnormalities is happening in most of the agencies, you can see one budget being repeated for five, six, seven years. The money is increasing”, he said.
The DG said that the envelope system of budgeting is to be blamed for non-completion of key projects by the agency.
He informed the House Committee that the 2024 budget of the agency was N1.2 billion adding that what he did the funds were operationalization of these centres and payment of staff emoluments.
Speaking also at the budget session, a member of the Committee, Hon. Chinedu Ogar (Ebonyi, APC) accused the agency of repeatedly breaching the Act of National Assembly by refusing to remit untilised funds to the federal government
