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Babachir: Senate asks EFCC to recover funds luxiitop Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir Lawal By Ikechukwu Okaforadi and Christiana Ekpa The senate has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure that the money allegedly stolen by the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, and other government officials are retrieved. This followed the debate and adoption of recommendations made by the senate ad hoc committee which investigated the mounting humanitarian crisis in the north east. Other recommendations adopted by the committee were that anybody found culpable of contravening any of the section of the public procurement Act 2007 and the federal government financial rules and regulations pertaining to the awards of the contracts should be dully prosecuted by the relevant authorities. The senate also said that there is evidence of malnutrition, hunger and starvation among the Internally Displaced Persons, the federal government and states in the North-east, and should as a matter of urgency see that food items, shelter, and other essentials are adequately and promptly provided to the IDPs in order to address the prevailing malnutrition observed among them. "the issue of many out of school children in IDPs as a result of poor educational facilities is a state that concerted efforts should be made by both the states and federal governments of the North east to provide conducive learning atmosphere for the children of the IDPs. "That the complete absence that personnel of federal ministry of health in the IDPs camp leaves much to be desired, hence the ministry should be compelled to immediately deploy its personnel to all IDP camps to support the effort of the International Humanitarian Crisis Management Agency and the Nigerian Airforce medical team in providing the necessary medical assistance so as to avert possible outbreak of communicable diseases like cholera, measles and diarrhea", the senate recommended. The senate also said since all the contracts awarded by PINE were awarded under the principle of emergency situation, PINE should forward a detailed report of all contracts awarded by it to the Bureau of Public Procurement in accordance with section 43(4) of the Public Procurement Act 2007. Meanwhile, during the debate, the Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Nalah, said to allow only three companies to bid for the contract is questionable. "The annexures have shown the bank slips used to pay the money to them, the senate will not be discouraged from exposing what they validly know to be wrong. There are more of such and we will expose them soon on the floor", he said. Also, Gorge Sekibo (APC Rivers), said Buhari has good intention to change the nation, but those who are with him are in house rat that is why they find it difficult to believe the change agenda. He called on the police to arrest those who are involved in the alleged corruption, asking if the EFCC is not aware of the issue. Joshua Lidani also said the IDP has become a cesspool of corruption and there is no serious intervention despite donations by international donors, adding that there is hunger and malnutrition because most farmlands are destroyed. In his remarks, the senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the statistics they in getting over the humanitarian crisis is very alarming. "There is need to do more oversight because the money is so much and the senate may create another committee to oversight them," he said For more news and other interesting stories, keep visiting Mr Olumide's Blog www.mrolumide.com The post Babachir: Senate asks EFCC to recover funds appeared first on Mr Olumide's Blog. aa