The House of Representatives has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to use his good office to prevent the unlawful movement of funds from the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI) and the Consolidated Pool Account to a pilot project called Bama Initiative (BI).
Presenting the motion at the plenary session on Thursday, 28th September, 2017, Hon. Sani Abdu (APC;Bauchi) noted that the transfer to Bama Intiative was unlawful and should have been handled by the two non-statutory special Committees that interface with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and the Presidency rather than through the statutory PCNI. In addition, Hon. Abdu stated that the twenty eight Billion naira (N28, 000,000,000) that had been transferred to Bama Initiative from the PCNI account and the consolidated pool account failed to pass through approved government regulation. He also expressed worry over the consequences where the President failed to act stating that the transfer breached relevant sections of the Constitution, Appropriation Act and relevant financial rules and regulations.
The House also urged the President to assent to the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill that had been transmitted to him, as it would assist in managing development in the North East. It also set up a 9-man committee chaired by Hon. Edward Pwajok (APC: Plateau) to investigate the allegations.
