Sudan: How we spent $1.2m on buses to evacuate Nigerians-FG

The Federal Government on Sunday gave a breakdown of the $1.2m spent on the bus fare to evacuate stranded Nigerians from Sudan to Egypt’s borders for onward airlifting to Nigeria.

This was as the government revealed details of the $1.2m earmarked for the evacuation.

The Permanent Secretary of the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry and Chair of the Situation Room on the evacuation of Nigerians from Sudan, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, gave the explanation in Abuja.

Sani-Gwarzo explained that $30,000 was paid per bus and that 40 buses were procured for the proper evacuation of the stranded Nigerian citizens in Sudan.

He also explained the delays experienced by Nigerians at the Egyptian borders, delayed payment caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the requests for visa payments by the Egyptian government.

According to him, the owners of the buses demanded complete payment, noting that sending money to Sudan cannot be done directly but through middlemen.

He quickly added that the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit had been carried along in the payment process.

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He said, “The $1.2m is not for the entire response but for one item: hiring the buses. We paid $30,000 per bus and we hired 40 buses which makes it $1.2m. We now mobilised the first approved by the Federal Government which is $400,000 and transferred it.

“When you travel in Sudan, you don’t just start travelling anyhow, the bus must be loaded with water and biscuits. We transferred the remaining in tranches to someone who would in turn give the drivers. We signed an MoU and at every stage, I report to the DSS and NFIU so that they can monitor the money.

“Whoever thinks $1.2m is what you can take to the border and airlift them is being naïve. The money is much more than that.”

He added that more than three million Nigerians currently live in Sudan.

On the delay experienced at the Egyptian border, the permanent secretary said alternative plans have been made to evacuate the remaining students through the Port Sudan border

He said, “We are making alternative plans to the border issue and we are going through Port Sudan where we will get free access.”

The secretary finally pleaded with the media to minimise reportage that may cause fear and panic to the remaining students and Nigerians in the country.