Some members of the House of Representatives have raised the alarm over alleged plans by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment to return over $100 million meant for the Growth and Employment (GEM) project, which has not been fully implemented since 2013.

The GEM project is an employment project financed by the World Bank and the UK’S DFID, with an initial loan of $160 million from the World Bank and £90 million grant from DFID.

The lawmakers confirmed to Daily Independent that GEM, which was approved by the National Assembly in 2013, was to run for a period of five years from 2013 to 2018, and was to benefit 4000 SMEs, but that the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment made attempts to convert it to an SME fund where he earmarked only 25 companies to benefit.

They, therefore, accused the minister of diverting the project “for his pecuniary benefits” as only 400 SMEs instead of 4000 benefited from the project as at December 2018.

“We want to bring it to the knowledge of the World Bank, the Federal Government, and the Nigerian people the corruption and injustice visited on the nation by the Minister of Trade and Investment, , Okechukwu Enelamah, who has turned the GEM project into his private estate and denied 4000 SMEs from benefitting from the funds provided by the World Bank.

“This project is domiciled in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, superintended and managed by the Ministry of Finance with the additional supervision and required approval of the World Bank.

“According to the guidelines of the project, there was supposed to be a project coordinator and an assistant project coordinator who should be a director and assistant director from the civil service.

“However, the minister abandoned the project terms and brought a former personal staff, Ugo Ikemba, from his private equity company, African Capital Alliance, and appointed him on contract as project coordinator and was paying him $5 million monthly.

“Barely three months after Enelemah’s engagement of his former employee, he initiated the restructuring of the GEM project to an SME fund where he intended to select only 25 companies to benefit from grants of up to $2 million each,” they said.

The lawmakers added: “When Hon. Mark Gbillah moved the motions on the floor of the House, the House referred the motions to a joint committee of Finance, Commerce, Industry, Loans and Debts and resolved that , Okechukwu Enelamah should stop any planned conversion of the GEM project to an SME fund and should not renew the contract of his former employee and requested that the Head of Civil Service of the Federation post a competent Director and Assistant Director to the GEM project immediately as Project Coordinator and Assistant Project Coordinator in line with the GEM project framework and guidelines.

“The House observed the infraction by the minister in not seeking virement from the National Assembly who approved the project in the first place and frowned at the minister running of the project by himself which was totally against due process, transparency, and financial accountability.

“It is important to note that even after the Head of Service complied with the House directives and posted a Director and Assistant Director to the GEM project in April 2018, Okechukwu Enelamah refused to allow them assume office and pressured the HoS through the vice president’s office to recall the officers which she finally succumbed to in June 2018 leaving Enelamah to continue running the project by himself,” they added.

Hon. Mark Gbillah who sponsored the motions disclosed upon inquiry that he had petitioned the World Bank, President Buhari, and the Minister of Finance on the infractions of the minister and the inability of the ministry to implement the project, especially considering the impending termination of the project by the World Bank in November 2018, but did not receive any response or action from any of these quarters.

He also made and appealed to the World Bank to extend the duration of the project which is intended for the benefit of teeming Nigerian youths and was happy when the World Bank gave Nigeria a three-month extension until March 2019.

According to Gbillah, “If the Nigerian government does not take proactive measures to immediately initiate the continuation of the project or propose a new project for the benefit of our youths, the over $100 million balance from the project will be returned to the World Bank and our youths who should have benefitted from the GEM project will lose this opportunity.”

•Sourced from a Independent report

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