SURE-P graduate internship scheme illegal – Senate

The chairman Senate special ad hoc committee on the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Senator Abdul Lingi has described the graduate internship scheme as illegal, adding that the scheme is way of looting government funds.

The committee also decried alleged mismanagement of N1.4 billion Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) meant for graduate Internship Graduate Scheme by ministry of finance underDr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwella.

Ningi, who walkout the representative of the ministry at the meeting, vowed not to appropriate anything for the SURE-P in 2014 budget.

He also added that the ministry did not have the capacity to run such scheme and promised to talk with the President on the matter.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the ad hoc committee in November opened an investigation into the expenditure of N1.4 billion on the Internship Graduate Scheme which is under the supervision of the minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Although no specific date was given by the senators for the minister to appear before them, they, however, requested her to furnish them with the list of all beneficiaries of the scheme, their locations and contact addresses among others.

In a letter addressed to the finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala by the committee chair Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi (PDP, Bauchi), the panel said the ministry expended the said amount between April 2012 to April 2013.