The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee is set to question officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Independent National Electoral Commission over alleged financial irregularities totalling N802.19bn.
The committee will commence the exercise on Monday, with officials of the two agencies expected to appear before the lawmakers on Tuesday to respond to queries contained in reports of the Auditor-General for the Federation covering the 2021, 2022 and 2023 financial years.
The audit reports raised concerns over alleged breaches of procurement procedures, revenue management, payments and compliance with financial regulations by various government institutions.
The Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Bamidele Salam, representing Ede North/Ede South/Ejigbo/Egbedore Federal Constituency of Osun State, is empowered by Sections 85, 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and Order 20, Rule 6 of the House Rules to examine public accounts and investigate issues involving revenue losses, non-remittance of statutory funds and breaches of financial regulations.
A member of the committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak officially, said the Auditor-General’s reports had raised substantial questions concerning the financial activities of NNPCL and INEC.
He said the committee would summon accounting officers and relevant subject-matter experts from both institutions to explain the transactions flagged in the audit reports.
“Tuesday is special because we hope to have in the House the accounting officers and subject matter experts from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Independent National Electoral Commission,” the lawmaker said.
According to him, the Auditor-General’s 2021 report contained alleged financial infractions of about N514bn against NNPCL, while INEC would be asked to clarify alleged breaches amounting to N288.19bn contained in the 2022 audit report.
The NNPCL queries reportedly include alleged irregular deductions of N343.64bn from domestic crude oil sales.
The audit report also allegedly questioned N83.66bn said to have been warehoused from miscellaneous revenue in a sinking fund account, alongside N82.95bn in alleged unauthorised deductions from Federation revenue.
Another N3.75bn was reportedly flagged as a shortfall linked to the sale of petroleum products.
The committee is expected to demand relevant documents and explanations from NNPCL officials to establish the circumstances surrounding the transactions and determine whether the audit queries have been satisfactorily addressed.
INEC will also face questions over alleged breaches relating to procurement, payments to contractors and the non-remittance of statutory deductions.
The audit queries reportedly relate to transactions undertaken during the tenure of the former INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who has since been appointed an ambassador.
The lawmaker said, “There are several audit queries concerning procurement procedures, payments made to contractors as well as failure to remit statutory deductions by the commission during the administration of the former INEC Chairman (Prof Mahmood Yakubu) who is now an ambassador.”
He, however, declined to provide details of all the alleged infractions, saying the commission would be required to answer questions relating to expenditure dating back to the 2019 general elections.
One of the transactions reportedly flagged in the Auditor-General’s 2022 report involved the payment of more than N5.31bn for the supply of smart card readers for the 2019 elections without prior approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement.
INEC deployed smart card readers during the 2019 elections before adopting the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System for the 2023 general elections.
The committee's proceedings are part of its constitutional mandate to scrutinise the Auditor-General’s findings and compel public institutions to account for public funds and respond to outstanding audit queries.
However, an audit query does not in itself establish financial wrongdoing. The affected institution is entitled to respond to the allegations, submit supporting documents and provide explanations before the committee determines whether any breach occurred and what action should follow.
Other agencies scheduled to appear before the committee on Tuesday include the National Mathematical Centre, National Power Training Centre, National Research Institute for Chemical Technology and National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency.
The committee is also expected to question officials of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Federal Capital Territory Judicial Service Commission, Federal Colleges of Education in Okene and Gombe, and the University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, among other institutions, as the audit review gets underway.
Leave a Reply