Metal ministry denies finances infraction

The Everlasting Secretary of the Ministry of Metal Growth, Dr Chris Isokpunwa, has rejected accusations of finances infractions within the ministry’s 2024 finances implementation, following allegations raised by members of the Nationwide Meeting.

In a press release on Friday, Isokpunwa addressed the claims of “ghost tasks” and procurement irregularities, clarifying that the ministry has not had enough funds to successfully perform its deliberate tasks for the 12 months.

He expressed confusion over the supply of the allegations and reiterated that the Ministry of Metal Growth has absolutely adhered to the established civil service guidelines that govern finances execution.

“As a Federal Authorities ministry, we work by laid down guidelines and ideas that information our conduct and performance, so no workers of my ministry can work opposite to the event targets and goals of the general public service,” the everlasting secretary said.

Isokpunwa additional emphasised that the ministry has adopted the Federal Authorities’s technique implementation plan, which ensures strict compliance with budgetary expenditure protocols.

He underscored the ministry’s dedication to transparency and integrity in all its operations.

The assertion comes after the Nationwide Meeting’s Joint Committee on Metal Growth raised considerations throughout its overview of the 2024 finances implementation.

The committee highlighted a number of alleged breaches of procurement legal guidelines and questioned the legitimacy of sure tasks below the ministry’s watch.

Co-chairman of the committee, Zainab Gimba, referred to as for a forensic audit of the ministry’s 2024 accounts, citing what she described as “ghost tasks” which may have siphoned public funds. Through the ministry’s 2025 finances protection session in Abuja, Gimba identified numerous discrepancies within the ministry’s 2024 finances submissions.

“A primary-hand appraisal of the 2024 submissions reveals some finances infractions as funds allotted for unspecified ‘capacity-building programmes’ and ‘abilities coaching initiatives’ within the metal sector present no proof of execution or affect,” Gimba stated.

“These tasks danger being categorised as ghost tasks designed to divert public funds. Administrative and recurrent prices considerably elevated in 2024 with out proportional will increase within the ministry’s actions or outputs, a attainable indicator of mismanagement or misallocation of funds,” she added.

She additional famous authorized violations below the Fiscal Duty Act, which mandates the environment friendly use of public sources and accountability for challenge outcomes.

“A number of tasks, particularly associated to Ajaokuta Metal, failed to fulfill these standards,” Gimba stated.

Moreover, Gimba outlined additional violations of the Public Procurement Act, together with cases of non-competitive bidding and inflated contract prices, suggesting breaches of procurement pointers.

“There are ghost tasks that are a direct violation of Nigeria’s Monetary Rules, which require all expenditures to be backed by documentation and outcomes,” Gimba added.

In response, Isokpunwa strongly refuted these allegations, stressing that the Ministry of Metal Growth stays dedicated to fulfilling its statutory obligations with integrity, and has complied with all relevant legal guidelines and pointers within the implementation of its finances for 2024.