The ad hoc committee investigating the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir Lawal, on Wednesday, told the Upper Chamber that the SGF allegedly spent N530m to cut grass in Yobe State alone.

Chairman of the ad hoc committee, Senator Shehu Sani, said their investigation revealed that Mr Lawal spent N530m and not N272m as previously claimed.

He added that the Presidential Initiative on the North-East (PINE) under the office of the SGF flouted the rules of procurement in awarding contracts.

Senator Sani said most of the contract awards did not go through the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), saying majority of funds earmarked for them was frittered away.

The committee also discovered that since it was established, PINE was paying less attention to the critical needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East region.

They said the bulk of funds were used for issues that do not address the immediate needs of the IDPs, but spent on issues that took care of the interest of the officials and associates.

Consequently, the Senate recommended that relevant agencies should investigate why contract benefitting companies paid over N500m to Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company in which the suspended SGF allegedly had interest in.