Emeka returned home after a long day at the office and asked his wife, Aisha for the N20,000 he kept in the cabinet. In response, Aisha told him she had given it to Tunde, the electrician for the electrical works he was supposed to do around the house. He was yet to come but Aisha said he had promised to deliver so she gave him the money Emeka got furious at his darling wife for giving out money to a handyman for a job not yet done.
He growled at her, asking her to either refund the money or call Tunde to come and execute the electrical works he was paid for.
Nigerians will be wishing that the anticorruption agencies would growl at the MDAs to either provide a proper explanation for monies spent or lost or refund it.
Since the release of the 2019 Audit report, Dataphyte’s reviews have exposed various financial errors and foul play by different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government. From discrepancies to misappropriation, failure to comply with regulations; the list continues.
Today’s Episode Features Nigerian Ports Authority, Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authority and Federal Government College, Enugu
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authority (RBDA) and Federal Government College (FGC), Enugu have been giving out monies to “handymen” without the job getting done.
The 2019 Audit report has revealed that a total sum of N4.6 billion was paid out by the NPA, Anambra/Imo RBDA and FGC, Enugu for contracts/services that were not carried out.
Paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations, 2009 warned clearly that “on no account should payment be made for services not yet performed or for goods not yet supplied”.
The NPA decided to do the contrary. It is not just that the agency failed to comply with Paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations, billions of naira from the taxes of hardworking Nigerians is the price of their non-compliance.
The Auditor-General for the Federation noted in the 2019 Audit report that the NPA made a payment of N4.55 billion for contracts/services. But from his observation, none of the contracts/services for which the payments were made was carried out, clearly going against the provisions of the Financial Regulations.
The Auditor-General also observed that the FGC, Enugu did the same paying out the sum of N3.07 million for contracts/services that were not also executed.
Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authority Also Earned Several Strikes
The Audit report shows that the Anambra/Imo RBDA awarded a contract for training and empowerment of women with HIV/AIDS and widows in Anambra South Senatorial District.
The contract award was dated December 13, 2018, with reference number AIRBDA/17/LOTF18.
As noted in the Audit Report, the contract was awarded at the sum of N49.29 million.
Given the nature of the contract, training and empowerment of a vulnerable group, women with HIV/AIDS and widows, one would think some level of transparency and accountability would apply but that wasn’t the case as the Audit report has revealed.
In his observation, the Auditor-General stated that “the contract [training and empowerment of women with HIV/AIDS and widows in Anambra South Senatorial District] was purported to have been executed and 100% payment was made via various payment vouchers, as seen in the budget performance including payment of N31,666,666.66 vide payment voucher number 469 dated 18th May 2018”.
However, all the necessary documents to ascertain that the contract was truly executed were not provided.
The Auditor-General noted that valid evidence like the date and location of the training took place, list of participants, their telephone numbers and the resource persons for the training and their profiles were not known.
Apart from this, the Auditor-General indicated that the basis for the selection of the contractor chosen was also not stated, as quotations were not received from at least three (3) contractors, which is the ideal procedure to follow.
In addition, there was no contract agreement for the contract. Therefore, raising the fear that payment might have been made for services that were never rendered or worse still, that the said money has been diverted.
On several occasions, the government has lamented the shortage of revenue to fund infrastructures in the country. But billions of naira being paid for contracts/services that were not executed speaks of carelessness and lack of fiscal discipline thus widening infrastructural deficits.
Nigerians hope that the government and its anticorruption agencies will “growl” and enforce Paragraph 3104 (iii) of the Financial Regulations, 2009 which states that ”a public officer who fraudulently pays money to a contractor for a job not executed shall be required to refund in full the amount wrongly paid and shall be removed from that schedule and the matter referred to the EFCC for prosecution”.
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