More than N3bn Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds in Plateau State are still unspent since January 2012, the Plateau State House of Assembly has confirmed.
Speaking with journalists in Jos, capital of the state, Chairman of the House Ad- hoc Committee on Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, Mr. Dalyop Mancha revealed the committee’s findings that both the state and local governments attracted funds from the SURE-P since January 2012 but they have not been disbursed to the beneficiaries.
According to the chairman, the commissioners for finance, local government and chieftaincy; the Plateau State accountant-general, state and zonal coordinators of SURE-P and the director-general, Research and Planning, Plateau Government House all appeared before the committee to give details of the funds.
“The finance commissioner told the committee that the state started receiving monthly allocation of funds from the programme in January 2012, but a special account was created for it in April 2012,” Mancha said.
“He said the funds are intact and that the account have so far received the sum of over N3 billion arising from a monthly allocation of N218 million.”
The chairman added that the commissioner for local governments also spoke to the committee, confirming the receipt of SURE-P funds by the state from April 2012, which was kept in an account domiciled as local government SURE-P account.
“The commissioner blamed the non-commencement of the programme on late submission of programme by committees set up in local governments for the purpose,” he said, adding that the committee recommended that the state and local governments should immediate begin programmes in order to match the efforts of other states.