An ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives is currently investigating the mismanagement of the N16 billion loan for the Urban Mass Transit Schemes facilitated through the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds. The committee expressed disappointment over the failure of most beneficiaries to repay the loan.
The Chairman of the Committee, Afam Ogene, released a statement on Monday, highlighting the lack of repayment by the beneficiaries of the government intervention. Former President Goodluck Jonathan introduced the SURE-P scheme in response to the partial removal of the subsidy scheme.
“A total of 1,179 vehicles were released to the beneficiaries under the scheme, with a four-year repayment plan. However, according to the Transportation Intervention Bureau (TIB), many of the beneficiaries defaulted and failed to repay the loans,” said Mr. Ogene.
Records show that as of December 2015, only two beneficiaries, ABC Transport PLC and The Young Shall Grow Transport Limited, have repaid their loans. The majority of the beneficiaries are yet to fulfill their contractual agreements with TIB.
Despite the failure of the previous intervention, the Muhammadu Buhari administration made attempts to introduce new transportation interventions. The committee, however, aims to thoroughly investigate all previous interventions in the transportation sector.
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