The Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed has admitted that there was an error in the budget of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs as the 206 billion naira captured in the budget proposal of the ministry was wrongly coded by the Budget Office.
The Minister disclosed this during an investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation on the alleged 206 billion insertions in the budget of the ministry of humanitarian affairs.
Ahmed said the 206 billion alleged insertions had generated a serious reaction within the week for the national social safety Nets Project funded by the world bank and are domiciled in the projects of the ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management.
She noted that the wrong coding resulted in the item being wrongly captured as “purchase of security equipment” but that it had nothing to do with Budget padding but an “oversight”
Reacting to the issue, members of the House were however infuriated at the repeated absence of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadia Umar Farouk to appear before the committees of the house and also to defend the budget proposals of her ministry.
The Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Hon. Aliyu Betera said that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs must appear before the committee tomorrow.
Dominica Nwabufo
