The Senate Committee on Trade and Industry has questioned the Ministry of Trade and Investment for allegedly allocating the sum of N1 billion for a foreign trip to Geneva, Switzerland.
Members of the Senate Committee knocked back the allocation during a budget defense session.
The panel in its condemnation expressed deep worries about the excessive spending on foreign trips and urged the use of in-country experts.
Members of the panel turned down the allocation when the Minister of Trade and Industry, Anite Doris Uzoka, appeared before the committee to defend the 2024 budget of the ministry.
“I see that you intend to travel to Geneva next year and you have budgeted over N1bn for that,” Senator Adams Oshiomhole of the All Progressives Party (APC) – Edo North said.
“We can’t keep going on with over-bloated teams on foreign trips. Use our experts in your offices in the country to save cost.”
Oshiomhole while speaking during the session also complained about the minister, Uzoka, always being absent from her office during the period he visited.
“Madam, sit in your office and work for Nigerians. I have gone there twice. You are always in the Bank of Industry,” he said.
“If you preferred BoI, you should have declined the President’s nomination to be minister.”
In response, Uzoka assured the former governor of Edo state that she can work from anywhere and give Nigerians the results they desire.
The Minister of Trade and Industry added that her office is currently under renovation.
