The House of Representatives has instructed the Committee on Public Account to look into claims of improper handling of COVID-19 intervention fund.
The order came from a motion moved during plenary by Nyampa Zakari, a PDP member from Adamawa State.
Zakari stated in his motion that numerous ministries and organisations misused the COVID-19 intervention monies during the pandemic.
The parliamentarian said the federal budget had earmarked more than N183.9 billion for the intervention money, adding that money was donated to the coffers by other international donors.
According to Zakari, the disruption of economic activity made it necessary to implement several programmes, laws, and interventions to help families, small enterprises, and public corporations and to strengthen their economies.
He added that to battle the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched several initiatives, including financial provisions and money from international donor organisations.
He explained that the sum of N83.9 billion was appropriated for the COVID-19 response in the 2020 Appropriation Act, as well as another sum of over N100 billion as intervention funds through the supplementary budget and international donor agencies.
The alleged mishandling, according to Zakari, was detailed in one of the Auditor General’s reports, and claiming that the poor handling would discourage future donations to Nigeria from donor organisations.
Zakari explained that the Auditor-General’s report and other sources reveal that significant funds for COVID-19 palliatives and international donations were diverted and unaccounted for by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of Government.
