By Emegwoako C. Paschal
The Senate Committee on Works has stated that it will not reverse its decision to remove the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria from the budget for 2023.
Senator Adamu Aleiro’s committee has promised to give the professional body no funding in the fiscal year 2023.
The conflict began when COREN’s Registrar, Ademola Bello, was asked to justify COREN’s expenditures for the fiscal year under review.
COREN was allocated N2.4 billion for fiscal year 2022, according to Bello, but N1.2 billion of that amount was used to organize its annual conference.
He also informed committee members that the personnel cost in the 2023 budget had been increased by N200 million because COREN planned to open offices in all 36 states of the federation in 2023.
In response to Aliero’s inquiry, Bello stated that COREN had transferred N45 million to the federation’s account. When lawmakers learned of the poor remittance, they directed COREN officials to produce evidence of federation remittances.
Senator George Sekibo, a member of the committee, stated that there was no reason to keep COREN in the federal budget because it could stand alone as a professional body like the Nigeria Bar Association, Nigeria Medical Association, and other professional bodies.
“How can COREN spend N1.2 billion on an annual conference and remit only N45 million to the federation accounts?” he asked. The government requires funds to build infrastructure for Nigerians. COREN should be made to stand as a professional organization independent of government funding.”
The committee’s chairman halted further consideration of COREN’s budget and directed the COREN registrar to provide proof of remittance to the federation accounts.
