The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has justified spending N1.5m to buy premium motor spirit also known as petrol, for six vehicles in her convoy while on an official trip to Anambra State.
Kennedy-Ohanenye made the remark on Monday, July 15 while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
The Minister was earlier quizzed by lawmakers wanting to know how her ministry appropriated unrelated expenditures, including N45 million for a New Year party, N20 million for sanitary pads and N1.5 million for petrol.
In her response, Kennedy-Ohanenye expressed surprise over the lawmakers probe on the matter as she noted that the amount wasn’t a big deal.
She said; “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.
“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?”
The minister further explained how her predecessor approved N45m to host 33 schools in the Federal Capital Territory to a party and bought a bag worth N15,000 each for each student.
She, however, absolved herself of blame in the arrangement, reiterating that the budget had been approved before she took over the ministry.
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