Federal Government (FG) cannot disburse the N100 billion earmarked for buses powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) without the approval of the National Assembly (NASS), says the Senate Committee on Gas.
This is as the Committee asked Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, on Wednesday, to provide details on the disbursement of N100 billion for the project.
Recall that in August 2023, FG disclosed it would invest N100 billion between then and March 2024, to acquire 3,000 units of 20-seater buses powered by CNG.
In December, another N130 billion was budgeted for CNG conversion and electric vehicles, but not much has been heard about the project since then.
Jarigbe Jarigbe, the Committee’s Chairman, in a Thursday statement, noted that there is a plot to blackmail the panel’s inquiry into the project.
“The committee insists that it amounts to breach of the procurement act for the presidential committee on CNG to go ahead with the disbursement without the approval of the National Assembly.
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“The President has good intentions and we cannot allow his intentions to be frustrated. Nigerians are in pain and we want results.
“There was no threat contained in the committee’s letter to the minister. It was an official letter and properly worded with respect to the office and person of the minister.
“The reported threat to pull down the PCNG was therefore another joke taken too far by the online media and what it represents in this instance.
“The senate is saddled with the responsibility of oversight and we will be failing in our duties if we are indifferent to how agencies of government spend the funds released for various projects.
“We as a committee therefore cannot be blackmailed or intimidated to abandon constitutional responsibility and the committee still stands by its seven-day ultimatum given to the minister to furnish details of the disbursement of the fund which was in gross violation of the Public Procurement Act of 2007,” the statement read.
The Senator however expressed dismay over reports that portrayed the committee’s inquiry as a threat to Edun.
