Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secret Reporters
It is no longer hearsay that since the appointment of the former governor of Rivers State Rotimi Ameachi, as Minister of Transportation, the transport ministry has been in the news for the wrong reasons as it is now synonymous with acquiring massive loans from China for the construction of railways which the minister has once considered as not having economic value to the country amongst others.
Another negative score of the Amaechi-led Transport Ministry as seen in the 2021 budget, is a proposed N48,000,000 (Forty Eighty Million Naira) for the purchase of sports equipment for the Ministry.
Findings by SecretReporters showed that following the submission of the frivolous proposal, a whopping N45,600,000 (Forty-Five Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira) was approved by the National Assembly for the Ministry which undoubtedly has no business with the acquisition of sporting equipment within the length and breadth of the country.
Perhaps desperate to loot at all cost while avoiding public scrutiny, the Transport Ministry according to the document gave no detailed description of the exact sport equipment to be purchased; an act which contradicts the Procurement Act.
Many Nigerians believe that the Federal Ministry of Transportation whose responsibility is to coordinate the swift movement of people and goods across the country, manage roads, rails, inland waterway, sea, and air transport nationwide, and also that of public services according to the law, has however neglected this mandate and taken up the responsibility of the Ministry of Sports perhaps in a bid to fleece the Nation’s treasury.
Critics of the APC-led government of President Muhammadu Buhari have also berated the Minister stating that the intended project should not be the priority of the Ministry as the bogus amount could be diverted to fund infrastructural projects considering the dire need of infrastructural development across the Federation.
