Bankole: How Ministries Duplicate Projects to Siphon Money
From Tunde Sanni in Ibadan, 03.31.2010

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole has alleged that federal ministries duplicate projects already executed and paid for in previous budgets in successive projects to fleece the country.

Bankole in Ibadan, Oyo State as a guest of honour at the commissioning of Computer Based Test Centre built by Electronic Test Company in conjunction with the University of Ibadan at the institution’s Faculty of Technology Annexe, explained how the lower chamber stopped the Ministry of Works from ripping the country of N40 billion through the 2009 appropriation bill.
According to him, from the total budget estimate of N100 billion the ministry presented to the House, last year, the Lower House, he remarked, discovered that the said amount was among the projects already budgeted, completed, certified and paid for in previous year’s budget.

In the last 10 years, he said that the House also uncovered between N800million and N1trillion accruals from the internally generated revenue which were not remitted to the national treasury.
Bankole expressed surprise that nobody had been arrested in connection with the alleged discovery and noted that the figure could be higher if the books were properly scrutinised.

Though, he assured that the House of Representatives would continue its oversight function, he however expressed surprise at the kid gloves with which identified criminals are treated in the country are being treated, noting that while pick pocketers are being chased about, the real criminals milking the country dry are being allowed to walk the streets freely.
“We will continue to exercise our oversight function without fear or favour. Before the presentation of the budget, the Ministry of Works came up with a budget of N100 for last year.

“But we discovered that N40bn of the amount was to be spent on the roads that have been done, completed and certified. We had to stop it.”
Vowing not to allow the matter to be swept under the carpet, he said he would not be surprised if the culprits initiated a “campaign of calumny” against him in the next few weeks.

The speaker said, “Chances are that the figure could be higher, because it was the civil servants themselves that gave us the figure. Imagine what N10tr could have done for this country in the last 10 years.

“This is an amount that could have been spent on education, power or the health sector. And up till now nobody has been arrested despite the undisputed fact that we have submitted our report on the matter.

“Those involved will start campaign of calumny against Bankole soon, but I don’t care. I’m now used to it. You call me speaker and I will speak. When they start abusing me in the next few days, just know why.
Sometime ago, he said that the country also lost the opportunity of having about $8billion invested in various sectors of the economy by a group of bankers.

He said that the five ministers designated by the President, who he did not name, to work out the modality with the investors frustrated the move because of their conviction that they would not be in direct control of the money.


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