Maduekwe Probes N1.5bn Fuel Allocation
03.22.2009

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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has ordered a probe into the N1.5 billion allocated for the purchase of generator fuel in some diplomatic missions abroad.
The allocation is contained in this year’s Federal Government budget as approved by the National Assembly.
“I have directed an investigation into that.  If it is true that money has been budgeted for missions in countries that do not have power failure at all, I do not want to preempt the outcome,'' Maduekwe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He added: “But any evidence of wrongdoing is going to attract the severest sanctions that the rules permit. I intend to go to the root of this.''
The minister pointed out that the probe became necessary not just because of the amount involved but also as a result of its `strange' capture in the budget.
According to the breakdown of the ministry's budget for 2009, the highest allocation of N6 million each was set aside for the missions in Jakarta and Pretoria.
Others are Berlin, N5.5 million; London, N4.1 million; Washington, N2.8 million and Atlanta, N2 million.
Meanwhile, a retired diplomat, who sought anonymity, told NAN that problems such as this arose from the flawed budgeting process.
According to him, funds are often voted for projects and programmes that are either not necessary or do not reflect the actual needs and priorities of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
He noted that in some missions’ host countries where primary and secondary education was free for diplomats and their children, government still voted huge sums as school fees at the expense of critical needs of the missions such as payment for electricity, gas and telephone.
“Missions are by law not permitted to vire from one over-funded subhead with surplus funds to others not adequately funded. There is the need, therefore, for a radical reform of the budgetary process to address the chronic problem of under-funding and misallocation of resources to the missions,'' he added