The House of Representatives Committee on Population has queried the National Population Commission over N1.9 billion spent on presidential summit in the Presidential Villa, also known as Aso Rock, in Abuja and conferences organised across the country.
The committee challenged the NPC to make oral presentation on the amount expended on the summit and conferences.
Gboluga Ikengboju (Ondo-APC) moved the motion on Wednesday in Abuja at the Budget Defence of the Commission for the Directors of the NPC to go back and take a critical look at the discrepancies in the document they presented to the committee.
According to Ikengboju: “In view of the discrepancies that cannot be justified by the commission and the fact that the 2022 format cannot be accepted, we want the commission to go back and provide more details.
“We cannot be speculating over tax payers money.
“I hereby move that they should go back and tidy up these documents.”
Rep. Ifeanyi Momah (PDP-Anambra), a member of the committee, expressed worry over how N129 million was used for a one-day seminar in the Presidential Villa.
Momah further asked if the money spent on the presidential summit held at the Villa was meant only for the Villa event or stakeholders conferences held in various states.
The lawmaker also asked the commission why the N5 billion budgeted for the mock census did not reach the staff deployed for that purpose in Anambra State.
He said this was because some of the staff deployed to Anambra State had to reach out to him and other stakeholders for financial support when the money budgeted for that purpose was not forthcoming.
Momah said he along with other stakeholders had to bail out the staff, while calling on the commission to throw more light on what they used the money for.
Reps Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun) also asked why the money used at the Villa for the summit was not captured in the 2022 Budget.
The committee however asked the commission to furnish it with expenditure pattern at the Villa summit and the stakeholders conferences at the state level.
The committee demanded to know how N5 billion was spent on the mock census, while asking that the NPC should provide the utilisation of the N1.9 billion it spent.
The committee gave the commission till November 16 to give it a feedback and reconvene.
The representative of NCP Chairman, Bala Banye, Chairman, Finance and General Purpose Committee of the commission, had earlier posited that the money spent covered the summit and states conferences.
Banye said the commission had documentary evidence how the money was spent, adding that the understanding is that the summit was also done in all states of the Federation.
Arinola Olanipekun, Director of Census, NCP, said the stakeholders workshop was to bring to Nigerian census 2023 instrument as to question and the nature of data that would be generated.
Olanipekun said it was also to meet the development of the country in order to seek Nigerians’ opinion on how to meet their needs.
She said: “The national stakeholders is very necessary and needed the buy in of the President.
“It added a lots of colour to it.”
She said the stakeholders conference was captured in the capital expenditure, adding that it was meant to be a one-day activity.
She said the stakeholders meeting was captured in the 2022 budget.
Fagbemi Benjamin, NPC Director of Finance, who was put on oath by the committee, said the money spent at the Villa event was N129 million, adding that the remaining N1.2 billion was for the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.