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The House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development and the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy, were yesterday locked in a war of words over alleged diversion of N1.5 billion meant for payment of contractors by officials of the ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n The face-off which occurred during an investigative hearing by the commitee started when the minister was asked to give account of how monies meant for contractors paid by the accountant-general\u2019s office was expended by the ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n In her account, the minister said though 30 per cent of the total sum meant for contractors was paid to her ministry, she could not give account of how it was spent because the first Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, had advised her to mind her business.<\/span><\/p>\n In response to the minister\u2019s reply, the committee members questioned the rationale behind her claim of not being aware of money paid to her ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n The minister, however, said the because the total sum was not released to her ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf not for the money of this year being delayed, I\u2019m sure we wouldn\u2019t be here today. Because we could have paid out some of these liabilities. But since this year, no project money has been released to any ministry. And that was a constraint,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n However, a member of the committee, Marie Nenemete Ebikake, questioned the minister on the African First Lady Peace Mission project of about N500 million, asking the minister to tell the committee how the money was utilized, where the project was located and those involved.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMinister and Permanent Secretary, with the Director of Finance and Admin, when you came last Thursday, we did raise an issue on African First Lady Peace Mission projects. Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t get any concrete\u00a0 answer to the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was carried over to today. So, now that we are here, minister, could you please educate the committee on the functions of African First Lady Peace Mission projects, taking into cognizance the funds allocated for the project in the past. In 2020, N500m; 2021, N225m; 2022, N500m; and 2023, N150m.\u00a0 Where is the office situated and the organogram?\u201d The lawmaker queried.<\/span><\/p>\n Responding, the minister explained that the N150 million appropriated in 2023 was eventually given to the former first lady, Aisha Buhari, who eventually told her it was meant for the purchase of generator .<\/span><\/p>\n She said:\u00a0 \u201cAbout the First Lady\u2019s funds, on the N500 million you were talking about, I wasn\u2019t there when it happened. When I came in, I saw it on the Appropriation Act. And I went to my First Lady. We discussed it. She said that particular money was not meant for her.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe said it was meant for the former First Lady because that was when that money was allocated. And the former First Lady later called me and said they wanted to use it to buy generator. And in the process, she was out of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt took her a while. She came back, called me, and brought the person that was going to organise how they would get the generator. And I introduced that person to the procurement officer then, who is now retired, so they could work it out according to the rules and regulations of procurement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201dThey\u2019ve been on it. Once in a while, I talk with the First Lady to find out what\u2019s going on. And that\u2019s the last I heard of that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n At this point, members of the committee expressed surprise that the minister could not identify the contractors or address of the contractors who executed the African First Lady Peace Mission project.<\/span><\/p>\n In her response the minister said: \u201cLet me explain. This is First Lady\u2019s\u2026 My First Lady will tell you, focus on your work. And she focuses on her work.\u201d Vanguard\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development and the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy, were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[121,274,275],"class_list":["post-822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-ministry-of-women-affairs","tag-uju-kennedy"],"yoast_head":"\n