There is a dramatic revelation concerning the budget of the Ministry of Power as 20 projects have been proposed for Lau Local Government Area, Taraba State.
While the Minister of Power, Mamman Saleh, is from the local government, there are indications that none is proposed for many other local governments in the state and Nigeria at large.
The Senate made the discovery on Wednesday, while scrutinising the proposal.
A member of the panel from Taraba State, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, first cited the anomaly when he discovered that all the projects for the state are in the minister’s area.
The Managing Director of the REA, Ahmad Salijo, presented and defended the budget before the Senate Committee on Power, which has Senator Gabriel Suswam, as chairman.
“It is not just the N52m but if you look at from number 85, N30m, N20m, N40m and they are all concentrated in one Local Government Area.
“That is the minister’s LGA. Twenty projects are in Lau Local Government Area. I am not challenging him but I am sure,” he said.
‘The Punch’, in a report, quotes another member of the committee, Senator Bala Ibn Na’ Allah accused the minister of allegedly violating his oath of office if he approved the citing of the projects in his LGA.
Na’Alah said, “Those who elected us to these offices expected us to ensure that the constitution which they have made for themselves and given to us will be executed to the letter.
“The President wants to be the president of every citizen of the Federal Republic if Nigeria.
“Therefore, he would want loyalty and cooperation from every citizen of the country. If we sit down here and agree that a budget that pleases a minister, can come, he (Minister) is not doing himself good because he has sworn to do justice to all manner of the people and not to allow his personal interest to affect his official conduct and decision.
“He has by this clearly shown that he has allowed his personal interest to affect his official conduct and decision, and that is a very serious matter.
“Governance is a very serious issue I think you (MD) must take this observation, serious and convey it to the minister. Tell him that the committee is not in agreement with him.”
