HEDA urges EFCC to probe NSPRI’s N683.8m spending

The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) has called for an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) over alleged expenditures of N683.8m on projects outside its statutory mandate in a single day. This call comes following a report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), titled "NSPRI Spends Taxpayers’ N683.8m on Odd Projects in 1 Day," which detailed 14 separate payments made by NSPRI on May 10 to various companies for projects such as health centre renovations, polytechnic workshops, streetlights, and solar mini-grids.

The FIJ report raised concerns about the alignment of these projects with NSPRI's core responsibilities, which include research into post-harvest handling of agricultural commodities and the development of relevant equipment. HEDA emphasized the need for an independent investigation to determine whether these transactions involved financial impropriety or abuse of public office and called for accountability in the management of public funds.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.