Sudan: How We Spent $1.2m On Buses To Evacuate Nigerians – Official

The Federal Government provided an accounting of the $1.2 million spent on bus fares to transport stranded Nigerians from Sudan to Egypt’s borders in order to be flown to Nigeria on Monday.

This occurred as information about the $1.2 million the government set aside for the evacuation became available.

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

According to Sani-Gwarzo, 40 buses were purchased at a cost of $30,000 each for the effective evacuation of the Nigerian nationals who had become stranded 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

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.