House of Representatives Adhoc committee on a public account on Monday, December 7, 2020, summoned Ebonyi State Chairman of Universal Basic Education Board, UBEB, Hyacinth Ikpor for refusing to appear before the committee to account for all the funds released to the board by the federal government for the execution of projects in the board.
Miriam Onuoha, a member of the public account committee after frowning at Ikpor’s character moved a motion that Ikpor should appear before the committee and present financial documents of the projects executed by the federal government through TETFUND in his office.
She said,” having exhausted all efforts to see the Chairman UBEB Ebonyi state who have absconded on knowing full well of our visit, I move a motion that the Chairman has failed to appear before the South East committee on public account to give us state of affairs and accountability of how the federal government appropriation through UBEC was released to SUBEB, I so move.
The committee led by Chinedu Ogah, a member representing Ezza South/ Ikwo federal constituency had embarked on an oversight function to probe funds released by the federal government for primary and tertiary institutions in the state.
But when the team got to the state UBEC office, Abakaliki to check its projects and funds released they observed that the Chairman of the board hyacinth Ikpo was nowhere to be found despite a notice issued to his office for the visit by the committee.
Angered by the development, the committee quickly sat, move a motion, and ordered chief Ikpor to appear before it to explain his action in one week.
The committee ordered that further release of funds by the board be stopped until all the funds released by the federal government to it is accounted for.
Ogah described as unacceptable the refusal of the UBEC chairman to appear before the committee and give an account of UBEC funds in the board and how it was utilized.
The lawmaker decried that after the state government has paid the counterpart fund, his lieutenant could not implement the project.
The committee had earlier visited the state University, EBSU where it interrogated the Vice-Chancellor, Chigozie Ogbu, and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund desk officer of the school for discrepancies in figures of the funds released to the University by the federal government, how it was used and quality of the projects the funds were meant for.
The committee also visited the federal government social investment office at Century City, Abakaliki to oversee the activities of Npower and the school feeding team.
Source: The Nation
