The House of Representatives has asked the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) to account for about N10 billion allegedly spent to register two companies for the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST).
Rep. Bamidele Salam, Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts made the call in Abuja at the resumed investigative hearing of the committee.
The legislator is more worried that the companies registered with such humongous amounts have folded up after one year of takeoff.
According to Salam, the companies, NIPOST Transport and Logistics Ltd., and NIPOST Property reportedly took off in May 2023 and folded up through a Presidential directive in May 2024.
“No reasonable Nigerian will believe that N10.4 billion was spent to register the two companies. The companies eventually folded up one year after takeoff,” he said.
However, the BPE Head of Finance and Accounts who stood in for the Director-General of the Agency, Mr Imam Rilwan, told the committee that of the said amount, N10 million was given to the two companies for their take-off.
Responding, Salam said spending money from the government coffers before the money was released was a violation of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
Salam, however, directed the Director-General of BPE, Ayodeji Gbeleyi, to personally appear before the committee on September 11 at 12 noon with all relevant documents relating to the transaction.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the N10 billion earmarked by the government to restructure NIPOST had allegedly gone missing. This led to the Senate ordering a probe into the missing restructuring funds released by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
