The Senate Ad-hoc Committee mandated with the responsibility of probing the disbursement of the Federal Government’s Special Intervention Fund (SIF) has indicated that it would commence sitting on Wednesday.
The members of the panel linked the delay in their inauguration and commencement of work to the failure of the Senate to form a quorum for their plenary sessions last week.
A member of the Ad-hoc Committee, Senator Shehu Sani, said the committee would have started sitting immediately after their inauguration last Tuesday, adding that but for the Tuesday’s (tomorrow’s) public holiday to mark Eid-El Maulud, the panel would have met.
The lawmaker said: “The inauguration will be done on Wednesday since we could not form a quorum at plenary on Tuesday. We also, did not form a quorum for the inaugural meeting last Thursday.”
It would be recalled that Plenary at the Senate penultimate Wednesday, became rowdy when the Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi, asked the chamber to investigate the SIF programme.
The lawmaker alleged that beneficiaries of the fund were being asked to provide details of their Permanent Voter Cards and their loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress in an application form.
Following the allegation, the Senate resolved that the SIF be thoroughly and the defunct Subsidy Reinvestment Empowerment Programme should be thoroughly investigated.
The panel, whose membership comprised Senators Shehu Sani, Danjuma Goje, Matthew Uroghide, Dino Melaye and Gbenga Ashafa, was mandated to conduct their findings within two weeks and report back to the senate at plenary.
The Special Intervention Fund for Medium and Small Scale Enterprises is under the National Enterprise Development Programme.
The Fund is a Federal Government of Nigeria’s initiative to provide subsidised loans to MSMEs at an all-inclusive single digit interest rate of 9 percent per annum.
