Foul Play, Sack Loading? Senate Summons Buhari's Minister over Unexplained Spending

• The Senate on Wednesday, November 2, sent an invitation to the minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed over some unexplained spending in the ministry of power
• The red chamber's committee on power is wondering why there is an inclusion of N147 billion in the allocation for the ministry
• Senator Gabriel Suswam, the chairman of the committee, also noted that the expenditure for the slated projects needs an explanation

The minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed, has been summoned by the Senate Committee on Power over the inclusion of N147 billion in the capital project of the ministry of power.

Making the invitation to Zainab on Wednesday, November 3, during the budget defence for the ministry, Senator Gabriel Suswam noted that the committee could not explain how the funds for the multilateral projects in the power sector were spent, Punch reports.

According to Suswam who is the chairman of the committee, the actual capital budget of the ministry for 2023 is N44 billion while N147 billion is meant for bilateral and multilateral projects.

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He said:

“We can’t explain how they are expended. You can’t lay your hand on the projects, and we cannot oversight them. The Ministry of Power does not know about it.

“We are inviting the Minister of Finance to come and explain to us. The money has been put in the budget year in, year out without specifying the purpose.”

Naira redesign: CBN fires finance minister, says it gets approval from Buhari

Amid controversy over the plan to redesign Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it followed due process as far as the process of three series of the naira is concerned.

The spokesman of the apex bank, Osita Nwanisobi, said this while responding to the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, who said her ministry was not carried along.

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Legit.ng gathered that while appearing before a Senate committee on Friday, October 28, the minister had faulted the process, which she described as ill-timed.

Speaking on the issue, Nwanisobi expressed surprise at the minister’s claim, stressing that the CBN remains a very thorough institution.

Source: Legit.ng