by Azeez Adeniyi

The Permanent Secretary of the State House, Jalal Arabi on Thursday defended the provision of N95 million for bullet proof tyres and N604 million for sewage in 2017.

He defended the allocation when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs.

Arabi revealed that the State House owes N52.8 million as electricity bill.

“There is a proposal for the sum of N52.8 million in the 2017 budget. The Committee may wish to be informed that the bills received from Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB) for liquid waste disposal for the state House for 2016 is in figure sum of N15.6 million with outstanding liabilities of previous years standing at N37.5 million (totalling N52.8m).

“This informed the provision of the same figure amount in the sum of N52.8 million in 2017. We have however, commenced negotiation with AEPB in order to arrive at mutually acceptable charges henceforth,” he said.

On the bullet-proof tyres, he said  “a total sum of N94.5 million is proposed for the purchase of treated (bullet-proof) tyres for 2017 representing 50 percent of the actual sought for in 2016”.

Azeez