Reps kick over N186b spent on FG School Feeding Programme

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Monday expressed serious reservation over the whopping sum of N186 billion reportedly expended on the Federal Government’s School Feeding Programme by the National Conditional Cash Transfer Office, the coordinating office handling the project in the Presidency.

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Busayo Oluwole Oke, and other members said this while grilling the National Coordinator of the School Feeding Programme, Dr. Sinkaye Temitope, and National Safety Net Coordinating Officer, Iowa Apera, on the disbursement of N64 billion out of N186 billion said to have been so far spent on feeding the school pupils.

They expressed displeasure over the development, describing it as outrageous and unacceptable.

Consequently, the Committee, currently investigating the management and utilisation of the Presidential Task Force PTF on COVID-19 funds, demanded a complete project audit of the programme immediately.

The lawmakers were enraged by a document submitted to the committee, which showed that the NICTO office received a credit of $400 million from the World Bank, $321 million from Abacha Restitution and another $400 million said to be the balance from the government equity fund.

But the National Coordinator told the lawmakers that the feeding programme had been ongoing since 2016 when the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs initiated it and had so far gulped N186 billion.

She further told the committee that the budget breakdown showed that N63.2 billion, N32.2 billion and N124.4 billion were spent by the office in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Other committee members, including Hon. Chudi Momah (Anambra, APGA) and Hon. Miriam Onuoha (Imo, APC), denounced the report, saying many schools and communities were yet to benefit from the programme.

Momah was visibly enraged as it was documented that 200,000 pupils from different families had benefited from it in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, which he refuted.

Oke, who also administered an oath to the National Coordinator, said the Committee would look at the documents submitted, adding that the funds might not have passed through appropriation by the parliament.