Explaining The Spend: Kennedy-Ohanenye On How ₦1.5bn Depleted Ministry Of Women Affairs’ Budget

Explaining The Spend: Kennedy-Ohanenye On How ₦1.5bn Depleted Ministry Of Women Affairs’ Budget....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Kennedy-Ohanenye explained that she often has to source funds independently to manage various tasks…….. CONTINUE READING 

During an appearance on Channels Television, she addressed her clash with the House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development regarding corruption allegations against her ministry.

The Minister revealed that when she took over, there were significant liabilities, and ₦1.5bn was used to settle some confirmed liabilities owed to contractors who had completed their projects.

She accused the lawmakers of the House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development of not allowing her to speak during the hearing she was invited to.

Due to insufficient funds in her Ministry, she plans to seek assistance from the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to pay contractors who have not yet been compensated for their work.

“There is no money in the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs. Most of the things I do, I source for money. We are underfunded. We are owing,” Kennedy-Ohanenye said during the program.

“The contractors ready for payment are only four or five; they have completion certificates. Remember, there is a completion period, after which if a project is not finished, it could be revoked or the funds may be exhausted.

“The Perm Sec has called for a committee to use PICA (Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit) to request financial assistance to pay these liabilities because we can’t pay. We don’t have money.

“Alternatively, we may move some of them to ongoing projects in 2024. Any contractor that falls within that scope will get paid. I am committed to resolving this. I don’t want people to suffer after completing their work, but my hands are tied due to lack of funds.

“The ₦1.5bn, before it was received, was half of what was owed, and they started paying people gradually.

“Some contracts were awarded in March, funds were released in May 2023, and I assumed office in August 2023. When I took over, I reviewed the contracts, and many were still incomplete. Only about four files were cleared. Additionally, the ministry had numerous liabilities due to chronic underfunding.

“In October, when the ₦1.5bn was received, it was used to start clearing the backlog.”