The clerk of the committee said the chairman had directed that the hearing was not for media coverage.
The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the utilization of ecological funds released to the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), on Tuesday, barred journalists from covering its proceedings.
Recall that the committee was last week, inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, who said the hearing is to probe all funds received from international organisations and donor Agencies since 2015, for the Great Green Wall Project, with the aim of exposing possible corruption and ensuring proper implementation of the project
Also recall that the chairman of the committee, Rep. Ismaila Haruna Dabo, had on August 31, accused the agency of spending N81.2 billion to plant 21 million trees in 11 states.
To this end, the Director General, NAGGW, Dr. Yusuf Bukar, was invited to appear before the committee on Tuesday, to respond to the allegation leveled against the agency.
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At the commencement of Tuesday’s hearing, journalists, who showed up to cover the proceedings were however, turned back by the Clerk of the ad-hoc committee, Mr. Edem Bassey.
According to Bassey, the chairman of the committee had directed that the hearing was not for media coverage.
“The first sitting you covered, I wrote a letter to you, and to the best of my knowledge, this committee did not write a letter asking for another coverage. So that addresses the issue.
“You know how we work in this place, I am supposed to either communicate to you, or the chairman, what has not been done, and why it is not done, I was not briefed to do so.
“The committee has the right to regulate its sitting just as the House does, adding that for now, “we do not need media coverage,” the clerk stated.
