The House of Representatives has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to refund N1 trillion to the Consolidated Revenue Account (CRA), for a contract for the supply of 65 million ballot papers for the 2007 presidential election.
This followed the inability of the CBN to provide satisfactory evidence of the transaction, which the House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Account (PAC) said was paid for twice by the federal government.
The committee had invited the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Atahiru Jega, the Permanent Secretary of State House, Emmanuel Ogbila, as well as the Acting Governor of the CBN, Dr Sarah Alade, to give accounts of the transaction.
Director, Corporate Services, Mr Dipo Fatokun, who represented the CBN, in his oral submission, said there was no double payment for the transaction.
“There was no double payment for the transaction. When we first appeared before the committee, we did not check our records very well and that was why we thought there was double payment,” he said.
“But now, we have checked our records very well and discovered that there was no double payment. Our records showed that there was no payment made for the memo from the State House, because there was Keep in View (KIV).”
According to the committee, the State House’s statement of account generated from the CBN showed that cheques for the transaction and debit entries were contradictory.
Two cheques for N262 million and N763 million could not be found in the statement, while two debit figures of N10.5 million and N1.4 billion, in respect of the transaction, were ‘suspicious’.
The committee also expressed suspicion over the legitimacy of the transaction, as the money remitted to South Africa for the supply was less than what was approved.
The INEC chairman was also requested to confirm the receipt of the 65 million ballot papers but Jega pleaded time to check the commission’s records as he was not there at the time.
Explaining why money remitted to South Africa was less with N10 million, Fatokun said it was a service commission and that commercial money deposit banks would have charged more.
Adeola said: “Who authorized the CBN to reduce the contract sum? The money approved was N1.015 billion but CBN remitted less. This brings us to doubt if the transaction was actually consummated.
“In view if this development, the CBN is ordered to remit to the Consolidated Revenue Account, the sum of N1.015 billion within one week.”
