The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has commenced investigations into the spendings of Federal Government funded programmes in Oyo State as part of its oversight functions.
The committee for Oyo state led by Rep. Stanley Olajide (PDP- Ibadan South-West/North-West) on Friday, grilled some beneficiary and administering agencies in Ibadan.
The other members of the committee were, Rep. Oluyemi Taiwo (PDP- Ibarapa East/Ido), Rep. Ajilesoro Taofeek (PDP-Ife) and Rep. Olumide Ojerinde(APC-Irepo/Oorelope/Olorunsogo).
Among the institutions investigated for the administration of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) were Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso; Technical University (Tech-U) Ibadan and Federal College of Education, Oyo.
Also grilled were handlers of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) N-power, Homegrown School Feeding Programme and State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
Olajide told newsmen after the hearing that the committee was inaugurated by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Rep. Oluwole Oke.
The lawmaker said that the committee was in the state to investigate how the federal government intervention programmes and funds were being managed over the years.
“Members of our committee are in the state to look at federal government’s funded programmes in the state.
“The programs are N-Power, Homegrown School Feeding Programmes, Conditional Cash Transfer and TETFUND.
“We are here to know how much has been appropriated since the inception of the programmes, who are the contractors handling the projects and how far have they executed the projects.
“We want to look at the different people who have benefited from those projects and how the money were moved from the treasury accounts to the beneficiaries. We are to look at those things holistically.
“This is necessary because our people are complaining that they are not benefiting from the projects and there is need for us to find out,” he said.
Olajide said that the committee was not satisfied with the presentations made so far, adding that they would have to probe further.
He said that though the committee was yet to visit site of the projects, but the committee had discovered some missing links in their presentations.
“So far, we are not satisfied with their presentations because there are missing links in what they presented to us.
“We are not convinced because we don’t have all the data yet, but we have told them to bring some data especially the names of the beneficiaries, their contacts, contractors and other relevant documents,” he said.
Prof. Michael Ologunde, the LAUTECH Vice-Chancellor, who led the institution’s management to the hearing, described the ongoing investigation as desirable.
“The committee work which is an oversight, is most desirable because it enables the government to follow-up on the fund that it allocates to any project.
“To ensure that the project is actually completed and made functioning.
I think to that extent, the oversight function of the House of Representatives is most desirable,” he said.
