The House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals has demanded that the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development provide comprehensive details on all projects undertaken by the ministry in the past year.

This demand was made when the ministry?s Permanent Secretary, Mary Ogbe, appeared before the committee to defend the 2024 budget.

Led by Hon. Gbewfi Jonathan Gaza, the committee expressed disappointment over inconsistencies in Ogbe?s presentation and issued an ultimatum for the ministry to submit the required documents by next Tuesday. The committee also criticized the ministry for failing to include most of its projects in the presentation.

Gaza emphasized that the committee requires accurate and detailed information to effectively appropriate funds. He insisted that the ministry provide specific details on each project, including budget codes, contractors, project statuses, and the amounts awarded.

Ogbe had reported that the ministry received a total of N25.05 billion in the 2024 budget, with N894.4 million allocated for overhead costs and N23.15 billion for capital expenditure. She also stated that the ministry achieved 100% utilization of non-debt recurrent expenditure, but only 11% of capital appropriation had been released as of October 31, 2024.

Gaza responded by stating, ?We cannot appropriate funds effectively if we do not know the true status of how previous funds have been utilized. We expect detailed information on all projects, including budget codes, contractors, amounts awarded, dates of award, and the percentage of performance.?

He further insisted that the ministry submit a comprehensive, well-documented report, with all necessary details, including any advertisements and contractor codes. ?Do not give us half-baked documents,? Gaza added, urging Ogbe to ensure that all the required information was included in the resubmission.

Ogbe had earlier presented an expenditure outlay of N25.05 billion for the ministry in the 2024 budget. This includes N894.4 million for overhead costs and N23.15 billion for capital expenditure.

She explained that personnel costs were still under the Ministry of Steel Development for 2024, as the personnel separation process had not yet been fully completed.

For appropriation releases, Ogbe stated that N745.37 million had been released out of the N895.44 million allocated for overheads, reflecting an 83% release rate. For capital expenditure, only 11% of the N23.15 billion had been released, amounting to N2.72 billion.

Ogbe added that the ministry had fully utilized its non-debt recurrent expenditure, but the capital budget had been slower due to ongoing procurement processes and pending Federal Executive Council (FEC) approvals. (Vanguard: Text, Excluding Headline)

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