The Federal Government (FG) has given the United Nations and other international organisations in Nigeria a 30-day deadline to submit a thorough accounting of how donor funds have been used over the years.
The FG stated that she would take the UN and other international organisations to court to order them to account for their spending if they refused.
Uju Kennedy- Ohanenye, the minister of women’s affairs, gave the organisations until November 15—thirty days—to comply, after which the ministry will file a lawsuit.
She also expressed concern over the misappropriation of $100 million (roughly N103 billion), which was allocated for a World Bank-sponsored project intended to recruit women, encourage them in business, empower them, particularly in the field of agriculture, provide them with small amounts of capital, and teach them how to save.
Read Also:NAFDAC: Indomie Noodles Are Not Prohibited
She claimed that just a small number of women were gathered and given allowances of between N30,000 and N60,000, adding that they continued to utilise traditional methods to harvest their farm’s crop of fruits and vegetables.
The minister emphasised that the legal action was in the best interests of Nigerian women and stated that the organisations will get a pre-litigation letter from the ministry between October 16 and November 8 and that by November 15 the case would be in court.
Kennedy-Ohanenye also assured Nigerians that after November 15 “by the next day, you will hear the lawsuit number. Let them come and defend the funds they are attempting to raise from contributors by means of you.
“I demand from the United Nations and their agencies that we want an account of all the money they received from donors in the name of Nigeria,” she added. We want to hear from them about what they did so they can disprove what I said.
“From October 16 to November 15, if we don’t get those reports released for Nigerians to view, we’re going to court. They will receive our pre-action letter from October 16 through November 8 informing them that we will be in court on October 15 at the latest.
“By November 8, the action letter will be sent by our ministry on behalf of Nigerian women and children, who make up more than 70% of our population. After that date (15), we will file a lawsuit to get that account. You cannot spend between N140 and N148 million and claim that you used it for summits, policy-making, technical assistance, and a variety of other purposes that are wholly unrelated to the reasons the donors provide the funding.
She bemoaned that her research had shown that the Nigerian system and policy were not to blame for the voiceless people’s glacial progress towards empowerment, especially for women.
The Minister said that enough was enough with the writing off of enormous sums of money in the name of policy-making, summits and other random items, and acts outside the purpose for which the cash were meant, while promising to reverse such negative storylines.
The minister claimed that these behaviours have exacerbated the current wave of insecurity and the low representation of women in politics.
She retorted, “You take millions of Naira and claim it’s for feeding – who sent you? Was that the intended use of the money? Instead of empowering them to giving them voice and life, you people are using pen to lavish the money while the people the money was intended for are there suffering in poverty and dying for lack of money for medical treatment.
“Prove me wrong by giving the Nigerians the account of how the money was used. It’s not about us vs the government. They bring the currency in as dollars, recycle it, and then transport it home. How will our naira endure? Today’s insecurity is mostly a result of poverty.
Poverty is a factor in why fewer women get involved in politics. So, money is being given to us to assist us, and we anticipate that the money will be used to empower the vulnerable, give them a voice, and ensure that their children attend school.
“We can’t keep keeping quiet while the country’s many masses suffer and money is given to a select few.” Enough is enough.
“And when you wonder why things are not working, they will say it is Nigerian policy,” she continued. Nigerians are unwilling to accept it once more, so I don’t trust it. Let the Nigerians witness what has been occurring. Then you can beg them, apologise, and then modify your ways.
