THE Public Accounts Committe of the House of Representatives,
on Wednesday, gave the former Minister of Information and
Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili; former Minister of State in the
ministry, Alhaji Ikra Bilbis and the Permanent Secretary, Federal
Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Anthony Ozodinobi, a one-week ultimatum,
within which to return to the ministry, the four official vehicles
attached to them while in office.
Chairman of the committee, Honourable Adeola Solomon, handed down the warning after hearing the submission of the officials of the ministry, led by its permanent secretary, Mrs Kehinde Ajoni, who appeared before the committee over the queries raised against the ministry by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The committee, while directing its secretariat to forward covering letters to the trio on its decision for them to return the four Toyota Hilux double cabin pick-up vehicles to the ministry within the stipulated time, threatened that failure on the part of any of them would land them in court, where they would be charged for stealing government’s properties.
According to the chairman of the committee, “this is unacceptable. They should return the vehicles in question within one week, failure of which they will be charged to court for stealing.
“The secretariat should write the three of them immediately to convey the decision of this committee to them. The evidences before us show that several letters had been written to them on the need for them to return the vehicles which they ignored.”
Mrs Ajoni had, in her defence, told the committee that the ministry had made attempts to recover the vehicles, adding that Professor Akunyili returned one out of the two in her possession, while Alhaji Bilbis and Mr Ozodinobi held on to the ones in their possessions without any response to the letter written to them.
She disclosed that the five vehicles in question were for the National Telephony Project of the ministry.
TRIBUNE
Chairman of the committee, Honourable Adeola Solomon, handed down the warning after hearing the submission of the officials of the ministry, led by its permanent secretary, Mrs Kehinde Ajoni, who appeared before the committee over the queries raised against the ministry by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The committee, while directing its secretariat to forward covering letters to the trio on its decision for them to return the four Toyota Hilux double cabin pick-up vehicles to the ministry within the stipulated time, threatened that failure on the part of any of them would land them in court, where they would be charged for stealing government’s properties.
According to the chairman of the committee, “this is unacceptable. They should return the vehicles in question within one week, failure of which they will be charged to court for stealing.
“The secretariat should write the three of them immediately to convey the decision of this committee to them. The evidences before us show that several letters had been written to them on the need for them to return the vehicles which they ignored.”
Mrs Ajoni had, in her defence, told the committee that the ministry had made attempts to recover the vehicles, adding that Professor Akunyili returned one out of the two in her possession, while Alhaji Bilbis and Mr Ozodinobi held on to the ones in their possessions without any response to the letter written to them.
She disclosed that the five vehicles in question were for the National Telephony Project of the ministry.
TRIBUNE
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