TheCable

The senate committee on public accounts has summoned the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) over the N960 million personnel cost in the 2022 budget allotted to 43 employees.

Responding to the committee on the budget, Orji Ogbonnaya, executive secretary, NEITI, gave the breakdown of the N960 million personnel cost.

He said N760.9 million was allocated for overhead cost, while N344 million was allotted to capital expenditure.

According to Ogbonnaya, 51 percent of personnel costs had been spent. 

He said 58 percent of overhead cost had been expended, adding that only 50 percent of capital had been released.

In his response, Matthew Urhoghide, chairman of the committee, said the agency’s spending of its personnel cost as of November 2022 was a case of “over-bloated personnel cost”.

“You have only taken 51 percent of your personnel cost in November. Your personnel cost is too high; you have only two months, and you have just collected 51 percent of your personnel cost,” he said.

“This is one case of a personnel budget over-bloated. What we are saying is that it is systemic leakage. We will reduce your personnel cost to less than N500 million.”

But Ogbonnaya explained that when the agency started operations, it only covered oil and gas.

He said the agency had now moved into solid minerals and required more manpower to carry out its operations.

“The agency currently has 43 staff, and it had the approval to recruit more staff, which was made available in the 2022 budget, and the process has just been concluded,” he said.

The NEITI boss added that the 70 newly recruited staff members were already captured by IPPIS but yet to receive pay.

Commenting on this, Ibrahim Danbaba, member of the committee, asked the executive secretary of NEITI to submit the nominal role of the agency to ascertain what he told the lawmakers.