The House of Representatives on Monday accused management of Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) of wasting about N10 billion on registration of two companies for the Nigeria Postal Service, only for the companies to fold up one year after take-off, News360 Nigeria reports.
Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Bamidele Salam gave the ruling during the investigative hearing into the audit queries issued against the Bureau by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (oAuGF).
In his address, Hon. Salam observed that there was no way a reasonable Nigerian will believe that N10.4 billion was spent to register the two companies only for them to fold up barely one year after.
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According to the audit query, the two companies namely: NIPOST Transport and Logistics Limited and NIPOST Property reportedly took off in May 2023 and folded up through a Presidential directive in May 2024.
In his response, BPE’s Head of Finance and Accounts who stood in for the Director General of the Agency, Imam Rilwan explained that while about N10 billion was given to the two companies as take off fund, about N400 million was given to the BPE to prepare the ground for the take off of the companies.
He said the issue of registering the two companies for NIPOST was approved in 2017, paving the way for the BPE to expend about N423 million in registering qnd carrying out other activities for the eventual take off of the companies.
He said when the money eventually released in 2023, the Bureau had to recover its money, adding that the N423 million given to the BPE was used to rent office accommodation and carry out other essential services.
He said while the Bureau paid rent for the two companies from 2022, the companies took possession of the offices in May 2023, while they folded up in May 2024.
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