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Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has sparked controversy by downplaying the sum of ₦1.5m million on fuel for her six-vehicle convoy during a recent trip to Anambra State, dismissing the outlay as ‘no big deal.’ Many have now questioned her apparent disregard for fiscal responsibility.
Monday evening, Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye joined ChannelsTV for an interview, where she was pressed about the recent expenditure on fuel for her six-vehicle convoy.
A recent altercation between Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye and lawmakers in the House of Representatives has brought to light a string of contentious expenditures made by her ministry, including a costly N45 million New Year’s bash, N20 million for personal hygiene products, and N1.5 million for fuel.
“How many vehicles? I travelled with the staff in the bus, two security vehicles, one DSS and one police, my vehicle, the backup, and the other one. About six vehicles went all the way to Anambra State for a job and we came back. What is N1.5m for those cars? Everybody knows how much fuel cost since I came in,” she said.
“But when I was explaining, they (lawmakers) won’t even give you a chance to explain. They will tell you to just say a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ How can I say yes or no without an explanation?”
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In an attempt to deflect criticism, Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye revealed that her predecessor had authorized a staggering N45 million to host a party for 33 schools in the Federal Capital Territory, with each student receiving a bag valued at N15,000 – a move that has raised eyebrows and sparked further scrutiny.
Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye distanced herself from the controversial expenditure, emphasizing that the budget had been approved prior to her appointment and therefore bore no responsibility for the lavish spending.
“Let me start by saying that last year’s budget was not done while I was there. All the contracts were also not awarded while I was there. Most of them were awarded in March and the contract money was released in May before I arrived in August. When I came in, I heard about the contract and checked some of them.
“A lot of them have not done it to date. Only about four files were clear and not only that, the ministry had a lot of liabilities due to underfunding. So, those other people who didn’t do the contract were part of the people claiming their monies were not paid. Again, they talked about N45m used for a party.
“As I said, I was not there when those budgets were made. That party was held and even the chairman of Women’s Affairs came there. They invited about 33 schools and thousands of children were there. I was told they did sensitisation by going around schools. They provided transport to every school coming and gave each student a school bag that cost about N15,000 each. There were a lot of other things inside the bag. They were equally given food.
The Minister concluded that the N45 million had been disbursed in accordance with the prevailing practices of her predecessor’s administration, but she had persistently promoted novel approaches since her appointment, although she felt her ability to effect change was curtailed in this instance.
