The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has told a House of Representatives’ committee that it spent N18.9 billion on bush clearing during the COVID-19 lockdown.
This was disclosed byWole Oke, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on public accounts. The Committee is probing the Ministry’s claims.
He said the Ministry told the committee that it awarded contracts to different firms and people that amounted to N18.9 billion, in order to do away with grass for the building of COVID facilities.
“During the lockdown of the country as a result of COVID-19, some companies took contracts worth about N18 billion for bush clearing from the federal ministry of agriculture for land preparation, rehabilitation of soil plant lab and others. We cannot shave their heads in their absence,” Mr Oke said.
He added that the companies mentioned by the ministry have been invited for questioning.
“We have invited them to come and give us their own side by responding to the issues and show us the places they are supposed to have cleared. They have to take us to the land they cleared,” the committee’s chair said.
He added, “We have invited the ministry of agriculture, and they have made (a) submission. But some of our members whose constituencies these projects were supposed to be domiciled doubted the existence of these projects, and for (a) fair hearing, we have invited the companies that got the contract for them to come and tell this committee where and when the jobs were executed.”
