The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has asked the federal government to investigate the allegation of mismanagement of N3.6 billion earmarked for training of electricity technicians in the federal government-backed vocational training scheme, the National Power Sector Apprenticeship Scheme (NAPSAS).
CISLAC, a non-governmental, non-profit, advocacy network, in its reaction to the allegation that key officials of the federal ministry of power had mismanaged the NAPSAS scheme and subsequently misused its allocated funds worth N3.6 billion, said that an independent investigation into the allegation would help the government to make a better decision on what to do with the scheme.
Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa stated in a chat with THISDAY that the allegations and petitions submitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by beneficiaries of the scheme were not out of place.
He called on the government to beam its searchlight on the management of processes by its officials in the power sector.
Musa explained in Abuja that the decision of the beneficiaries to institute such legal process against the ministry officials was right and that in addition to its call on the government to undertake further investigations on the development, the ministry’s officials who had been charged with such claims can equally seek to clear their names in the law court other than the pages of newspapers.
The duo of Abubakar Madugu and David Garba had petitioned the EFCC through their counsel, Obono, Obono and Associates, asking the anti-graft agency to investigate the alleged misuse of N3.6 billion NAPSAS fund by the ministry of power.
Madugu and Garba who are beneficiaries of the scheme pointed out that the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Godknows Igali, Coordinator of the scheme, Mrs. Cybil Williamson and Director General of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), Reuben Okeke could be guilty of perpetrating the act.
The duo also petitioned the National Assembly to investigate their claims, but the ministry of power has vehemently denied the allegations against its officials.
Musa however said: “The government should not just accept the explanations of the ministry”.
“I think that it should go further to look into the claims and punish its officials who may be found guilty of any wrongdoing. People resorted to impunity and did whatever they liked with the hope that nothing could be done to them. They took monies that were not meant for them and especially with the power sector where we have not yet achieved anything with the amount of money that has been budgeted. I am sure more investigations into this will unravel more discoveries,” Musa said.
“In any case, if the ministry officials feel they are wrongly accused, they have the courts to go to and clear their names, they can even ask for damages if it is found that they did nothing wrong,” Musa added.
NAPSAS was launched by former President Goodluck Jonathan in June, 2014 to train lower cadre technicians that would work and help sustain development strides in the power sector.
Under the scheme, each trainee is entitled to a monthly stipend of N18, 000 while the training lasted.
But Madugu and Garba however claimed that throughout apprenticeship training, they and some others were never paid their entitlements and allowances despite their claims that N3.6 billion was budgeted for the scheme by the government.
They thus urged EFCC and the government to launch an investigation into the management of the scheme to uncover the alleged fraud.
-ThisLive
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