The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Science Engineering, Inuwa Garba (PDP, Gombe) said on Tuesday that the committee may recommend the scrapping of some agencies of government for failing to live up to the mandate for which they were established.

The committee expressed displeasure with some agencies such as the Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHETSCO ) and other officials of the agency over award of contract and non-completion of projects in Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe states.

Speaking at a budget defence, the Committee Chairman threatened that the commitee would recommend to the House the scraping of some agency in line with the Steve Oronsanye report if the agencies are not living up to their responsibilities.

He said: “Most of their budget is just repettion to the extent that some don’t even want anybody to know what they are doing.

“Though some agencies are very relevant and are up and doing and very effective and supportive of government policies and programs, when we finish, we are coming out to say our stand as a committee and present our report to the appropriation committee.
Reacting to the agencies involved Inuwa said: “I will not say it now because we are yet to come to a final conclusion. But when we finish, we will call the agencies, call the head of the agencies and say why and how we are making that recommendation.
“A lot of abnormalities is happening in most of the agencies. You can see one budget repeated 5, 6, 7 years and the money keep increasing. Another year, you will see the same project under the same agency, but the money will change

“So, honestly, I can’t say I’m comfortable for now. But what we have seen, a lot needs to be done in the budget and procurement process in our agencies, ministries and parastatals, so that we can be able to come up with something that will help the government and the people of this country.

Director-General of the Sheda Science and Technology Complex, Paul Onyenekwe blamed the envelope system of budgeting by the federal government for the non completion of on-going projects by the agency.
He informed the House Committee that the 2024 budget of the agency was N1.2 billion which was used for the operationalization of it’s centres and payment of staff emoluments.

He also said that the agency embarked on construction of staff quarters for it’s staff when it discovered that many of them were coming to work in the agency from very remote areas from the office.

On the 2024 budget review, he said that the agency got N69,569,607,924 00 as capital, N1,007,665.,803 00 as personnel and N382,552.074.00 as overhead cost.
He also stated that they had embarked on construction of drainages and culverts in four northern states of the country namely Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe states .