Senate Committee on Public Accounts (SPAC), has in the present 9th National Assembly been thorn in the flesh of public officers allegedly mismanaging public funds. TAIYE ODEWALE reports
Essence of Public Accounts Committee
As a way of fighting corruption, the significance of Public Accounts Committee at both chambers of the National Assembly is captured in the 1999 Constitution by way of making it the only committee constitutionally recognised.
The committee also is given the legal teeth to work hand in hand with the Office of the Auditor – General of the Federation on how appropriated public funds are spent by the various federal government owned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Expectedly, the committees at both chambers of the National Assembly, have since 1999 been trying to make the various MDAs to be accountable and transparent in their expenditures by subjecting them to rigorous interrogations on any queries bordering on financial infractions raised against them by the office of Auditor – General of the Federation (AuGF).
However, such efforts of the committees have not substantially brought about transparency and accountability in the management of public fund by the various MDAs, the reason why at inception, the 9th National Assembly, resolved to make the committees more potent and biting in their interrogation of audit reports.
Tougher measures by the 9th National Assembly
In making their investigation of audit reports more bitting as far as the war against corruption is concerned, the Public Accounts Committee of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, had from July 2019 to now, put management staff of many of the MDAs on their toes as regards alleged financial infractions.
The latest of such were the ones carried out in the Senate by the Committee headed by Senator Mathew Urhoghide (PDP Edo South).
Penultimate week, the committee turned the heat on management of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over alleged $5m payment to a law firm for service not rendered by given the management 48hours ultimatum to provide evidential documents after failed attempts by representative of the agency, Olamide Olusanya to justify the spending.
In giving the order, the Chairman of the committee said: “We need the details of the payment, go back to your archives and bring it out.
“Let us know the transaction between your office and that of the Attorney General of the Federation before you paid the money.
The Committee had invited NIMASA up to three times for the explanation on the payment of $5 million as professional fee and details of $9.3 billion loss by the federal government, but the agency declined the invitation.
The report of the Auditor General sighted by our correspondent revealed that all efforts by the Auditor of the Federation to see the details of $9.3 billion loss by the Federal government for thorough scrutiny was not granted by NIMASA.
According to AuGF report, the money was paid from Zenith Bank (UK), dollar account.
The query reads, “Audit observed that the agency engaged the service of a legal firm through a letter with reference number NIMASA/DG/KP/2014/001, dated 24th January 2014 for the intelligence based tracking of global movement of Nigerian Hydro-Carbon and recovery of loss by the federal government of Nigeria in the sum of USD9.3billion between 2013 and 2014, with a start-off cost of USD5million and 5% of all sums recovered.
“Payment instruction with reference number NIMASA/2007/DFS/WJ/5.500/VOL.11/341 dated April 2014 showed that the firm was paid the sum of $4,523,809.52 (Four million five hundred and twenty three thousand eight hundred and nine dollar fifty two cents only) net as professional fees from Zenith Bank (UK) dollar account.
“The naira equivalent of this amount was N741,904,761.28 at an exchange rate of N164 to a dollar as of that date.
“No evidence of recovery of either part or the entire sum of the 9.3 Billion US Dollars was presented as at the time of the Periodic Check in February 2018, despite the huge amount of money already paid to this effect.
“It is instructive to note that details of the transaction leading to the loss of USD9.3billion to the Federal Government which only came to audit attention through the review of the letter from the agency to the legal firm so as to ascertain what could have transpired, resulting in such a huge loss were not presented for audit.
“Ordinarily, the firm should have deducted its fees from the amounts recovered for the FGN, and not receive fees in advance in lieu of the recoveries.
“Audit is concerned that payments was made for service not rendered and this may be a deliberate attempt to divert government funds for personal use.
“The Director-General is required to justify the payment for service not rendered, failing which the sum of N741,904,761.28 should be recovered from the legal firm and paid into the CRF, forwarding evidence of payment to the Public Account Committees of the National Assembly and to the Office of Auditor-General for the Federation for verification. Sanctions stated in FR 3104 should apply. He is also required to provide details of the transaction(s) leading to the loss of 9.3 Billion US Dollars for thorough scrutiny.”
Similar heat from the committee was turned on present and past management of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), last week Wednesday over N17.158 billion transferred from Skye and First Bank Accounts of the agency to untraceable ones between January and December 2013.
Auditor – General’s office had in the 2018 Audit report, raised 50 different queries bordering on alleged misappropriation of funds by management of the agency, which are being looked into by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
Specifically on the N17.158billion unsubstantiated transfers made by NSITF , the query reads: “Management of NSITF as shown in statements of Account No. 1750011691 with Skye bank plc, for the period 1st January, 2013 to 20th December, 2013, and Statements of Account No.2001754610 with First Bank Plc for the period 7th January, 2013 to 28th February, 2013, transferred amounts totalling N17,158,883,034.69billion to some persons and companies from these accounts.
“However, payment vouchers relating to the transfers together with their supporting documents were not provided for audit. Consequently, the purpose(s) for the transfers could not be authenticated.
“These are in violation of Financial rule 601 which states that “All payment entries in the cashbook/accounts shall be vouched for on one of the prescribed treasury forms. Vouchers shall be made out in favour of the person or persons to whom the money is actually due.
“Under no circumstances shall a cheque be raised, or cash paid for services for which a voucher has not been raised”.
In sustaining or vacating the query, the Senate Committee headed by Senator Mathew Urhoghide ( PDP Edo South), interrogated NSITF’s past and present managements on where monies totalling N17.158billion were transferred to between January and December 2013.
But neither of the managements could offer satisfactory explanations on the undocumented multiple transfers as those at the helm of affairs in 2013 told the committee that documents like vouchers were left behind by them while the present Managing Director of NSITF , Dr Michael Akabogu said no documents of such is in their kitty.
“The Container the said documents were kept by past management has not only been beating by rains over the years but even possibly being eaten up by termites.
“As directed by this committee, I told the past management officers on the need for them to help us out in answering this query with necessary documents which have not been made available for us “, he said.
However in his submissions, the Managing Director of NSITF from 2010 to 2016, Mallam Umar Munir Abubakar said he was unaware of the query and have no explanations for it since the audit was not carried out during his tenure.
But his successor, Mr Adebayo Somefun who was head of the agency from May 2017 to July 2020, said those in the account section should be able to trace the documents which the current General Manager Finance, alleged to have been locked up in an abandoned container within the premises of the Trust Fund in Abuja.
Irked by submissions of the past and present NSITF officials, the committee through its Chairman, Senator Urhoghide, descended heavily on them by ordering them to re – appear before the committee with all the requested evidential documents unfailingly on Thursday, September 22, 2022.
“This committee has given you people more than enough time to respond to queries slammed on NSITF in the 2018 Audit report by the office of Auditor General of the Federation.
“The queries are 50 in number ranging from one misappropriation to the other in billions of Naira. The one on N17.158billion multiple transfers carried out in 2013 has not been answered at all, not to talk of N5.5billion allegedly diverted into a commercial bank account without approval, N2.2billion unauthorized Investment without adequate records etc.
“These are completely unacceptable and the committee will make sure that these queries are sustained if required evidential documents on monies spent or misappropriated, are not provided”, he said.
Certainly if thorough investigations being carried out by Public Accounts Committee of both chambers on queries raised against affected MDAs by the office of Auditor General is sustained, cases of financial misappropriation by them will be minimised .
