TheCable

The federal government says ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that pay for constituency projects without due clearance will henceforth be punished.

Habiba Lawal, acting secretary to the government of the federation, said this on Thursday at a stakeholders forum on the implementation of zonal intervention/constituency projects in Abuja.

She said henceforth, the SGF office would need to clear MDAs before such payments else they would be invited by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

Represented by William Alo, a permanent secretary in the SGF office, Lawal said the measure is to aid accountability of taxpayers money.

“A team from the office of SGF will visit the project and carry out due diligence and ensure it is done according to specifications before payment will be authorised,” she said.

“If you pay without clearance, it is embezzlement and corruption. This is government policy; we are duty bound to adhere to it.

“Henceforth, projects must have an impact on the lives of the people. That is the bottom line of this stakeholders’ forum.”

Lawal said the resolve to “verify, monitor and evaluate all the projects” is also because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s special interest in timely and effective execution.

She also said the executive’s decision to situate the supervision of the projects in the OSGF is to ensure they are not abandoned even when members of the national assembly facilitating them leave office.

“The MDAs are responsible for the actual implementation of these projects while the OSGF will monitor, evaluate, verify implementation and authorize payment at various stages of execution,” she said.

“Therefore, payments for constructs under the zonal intervention/constituency projects will be made based on satisfactory performance in order to ensure value for money.

“Furthermore, contractors handling zonal Intervention/Constituency projects shall only be paid upon authorisation by the OSGF.”