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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has indicted 31 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) for audit infractions in the 2019/2020 Auditor General of the Federation report.
The House directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to recover over ₦103.8 billion and $950,912.05 from the affected MDAs and remit the same to the government treasury.
According to the report of the House Public Accounts Committee, the panel uncovered internal control weaknesses and non-compliance within government entities.
The indicted MDAs include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for alleged unauthorised spending on a presidential lodge project at the Nigerian Embassy in Ethiopia.
The parliament demanded that over ₦124 million and nearly $795,000 be refunded to the federal treasury, while ₦31.7 million and $155,923.00 were also flagged as illegally expended without appropriation.
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The ministry was directed to recover ₦49.4 million paid for renovation in disregard of procurement procedures and ₦9.2 million allegedly disbursed to embassy officials without proper documentation.
The Bank of Agriculture was queried over alleged uncollected debts amounting to ₦75.6 billion and directed to publish the list of debtors in at least three national newspapers and called on anti-corruption agencies to recover the outstanding funds.
Key recommendations of the committee in the 2020 audit report, which was made available to journalists last night, include that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources refund ₦12.3 million for unauthorised cash advances above the ₦200,000 limit, amongst others.
The Cross River Basin Development Authority is expected to refund ₦3.5 billion for failing to present 731 payment vouchers from 2019, while the FIRS was directed to recover ₦41.4 million in unremitted stamp duty for a 2019 contract.
The Department of ICT, Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, was directed to refund ₦1.1 billion spent on ICT without NITDA approval, while the Ministry of Labour and Employment was directed to refund ₦351 million for unaccounted Geneva Labour Desk funds and investigate numerous questionable payments and projects totalling over ₦1.5 billion.
