Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives Committee on Industry, yesterday, drilled the Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Osita Aboloma, over alleged low remittance to the Federation Account.
Committee Chairman, Abubakar Moriki, said SON has failed to remit appropriate revenue to the federation account in the last two years, as required by law.
Moriki, who spoke when SON appeared before the committee, to defend its 2019 budget estimates, said the budget proposal submitted by the agency was incoherent.
According to him, the N5.918 billion budget presented to the committee for consideration do not have the details of staff remuneration, promotion, dismissal and retirement in all the states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT).
Consequently, the lawmaker directed the agency to make available to the committee, all details oits budget and other expenditures.
Earlier, in his presentation, Aboloma told the lawmakers that his agency utilised its 2018 budget for the automation of its operations and expanding its infrastructure.
Aboloma noted that his agency will deploy its 2019 budget towards the consolidation of the automation of its processes and building infrastructure.
In a related development, the Committee on Public Accounts, yesterday, turned back the Auditor General to the Federation (AuGF); over erors in its 2019 budget estimates.
A member of the committee, Ralph Igbokwe observed that N50.8 million paid for an ongoing capital project was not appropriately captured in its presentation. However, the AuGF, Mr. Anthony Ayine, told the committee that the error was not deliberate’ as the N50.8 million was captured in another page in the presentation under capital expenditure.
But, committee chairman, Kingsley Chinda noted that “we expect enough accountability and transparency from an important agency like AuGF.”