The Senate ad hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North-East, on Saturday said that it invited the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, to its public hearing.
The Chairman, of the committee, Senator Shehu Sani, who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen, however, said that Lawal did not honour the panel’s invitation.
The senate had, last week called for the resignation of Lawal over alleged corruption in the management of funds for internally displaced persons.
The lawmakers said Presidential Initiative on North-East, which was under the SGF, could not account for N2.5bn allocated to it.
Lawal had dismissed the allegation, saying he was not invited by the committee.
But Sani insisted that the SGF was invited. The lawmaker said he would ask the clerk of the committee to forward a letter in which the SGF was invited.
An online newspaper, The Cable had on Saturday, said Rholavision Engineering Ltd, a company allegedly owned by the SGF was paid N200m from a contract he awarded for the clearing of “invasive plant species” in Yobe State.
The Cable stated that the company’s bank statement showed that Josmon Technologies Limited, a company that got the contract from PINE to clear grass for N248, 939, 231, made cash deposits of N10m into Lawal’s company’s account 20 times from March 29.
It added that Lawal awarded the contract to Josmon Technologies on March 8, and the company made the cash deposits until September when he resigned from Rholavision.
The report also faulted a statement by the SGF that he resigned from his company on August 15, 2015, and as a result was not a party to whatever business it contracted.
According to the report, a document from the Corporate Affairs Commission seen by The Cable showed that Lawal was a director of Rholavision until September 16, 2016 when he wrote to the commission informing it of his intention to relinquish 1, 500, 000 ordinary shares.
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