17th January, 2017
The House of Representatives on Tuesday resolved to investigate the N500 million budgeted fund for the reconstruction of Girls Secondary School, (GSS) Chibok, Borno.
This followed a motion by Rep. Raphael Igbokwe (PDP-Imo), which was unanimously adopted through a voice vote.
Moving the motion, Igbokwe noted that N1.6 billion was budgeted by the Federal Government in the 2015 budget for the ‘Safe School Initiative’.
The lawmaker explained that the federal government earmarked the sum of N500 million for the reconstruction of the school.
Igbokwe expressed concern that the Governor of the state, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, in one of his recent visits to the school alerted the world that the school had not been reconstructed.
“Stating this, the Governor indicated that the fund approved for the work had been diverted,” Igbokwe said.
The lawmaker further expressed concerns that there had been no official clarification from the Ministry of Finance or the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation over the status of the funds earmarked for the project.
In his contribution, Rep. Oghene Egoh (PDP-Lagos) said that the issue was saddening and should be thoroughly investigated.
The House therefore mandated its Committee on Public Accounts to investigate the matter and report back its findings within four weeks for further legislative action.