COVID-19 Funds: Reps Probe Water Ministry For Spending N25 Million To Sink One Borehole

On Tuesday, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives questioned the Federal Ministry of Water Resources on allegations that it had sunk one borehole at a cost of N25 million and others at a price of N12.5 million each.

Naija News reports that the chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, also criticized the N4 billion the ministry allegedly spent on hiring 100 people for a three-month Youth Engagement for Sanitation project that will span the nation’s 774 Local Government Areas.

During her Tuesday appearance before the committee at the National Assembly Complex, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, Didi Walson-Jack, said that boreholes had been sunk in several states across the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory.

“In total, 299 new water schemes were embarked upon during the period just as a total of 188 old and abandoned solar boreholes were resuscitated during the period. Each state of the federation received N10 million intervention items,” Walson Jack said

Not pleased with the presentation, committee members alternated in demanding that the project sites be verified to ensure that they were authentic and that they weren’t confused with previously sunk boreholes.

They also requested access to the full list of youth, account numbers, payment schedules for each bank, and all other project-related information hired in the YES empowerment scheme.