Galaxy Backbone, Nigeria’s information technology and shared service provider, has been given seventy hours to appear before the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) due to multiple claims of financial violations and breaches of existing contract and financial regulations totalling billions of Naira.
The committee found Galaxy Backbone guilty of non-remittance of taxes worth N329,845,000 to be paid within the stipulated 21 days and ruled that necessary sanctions should apply.
The committee, headed by Representative Bamidele Salam at its hearing in Abuja, grilled the organisation due to several queries in the Auditor-General’s For the Federation’s 2021 report.
Another issue that came under scrutiny was the payment of N66,799,440 for a contractual obligation without relevant documentation.
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The committee requested the organisation to furnish it with details of the transaction within 72 hours.
The committee also uncovered the payment to a company in the United States of America (USA), ST Engineering, which used the same address in terms of street and number in two different states.
The committee observed that there was no evidence of execution of the contract.
Galaxy Backbone was also given another 72 hours to furnish the PAC with all the details of the contractor and all documents as required by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and other regulatory procedures.
The failure by Galaxy Backbone to convincingly explain other violations, such as e-payment violations totalling N12,661,300 in addition to other doubtful payments amounting to N2,433,701.56, as well as a procurement contract of $164,403, further infuriated the committee.
Consequently, Galaxy Backbone was handed another invitation for reappearance to speak on pending issues on Thursday, 27th February, 2025, by 1pm.
The Managing Director of the Galaxy Backbone was represented at the hearing by Mr. Sani Mohammed Ibrahim, the Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Service, along with other key officials of the company.
In a similar vein, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) appeared before the committee to answer audit queries, especially those of payment of allowances for projects Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to the tune of N25,801,400.00
The Director General of the Institute, Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, said that most of the issues raised were carried out during the previous administration as his team resumed duties in 2024 while the queries arose from infractions committed during the 2021 fiscal year.
The committee, however, took exception to the explanation and requested the exact location of the projects, the basis of the calculation of transportation fare, the list of personnel that embarked on the trips, all the receipts and vouchers, and the payment details that accrued to them.
Additionally, the committee focused its investigation on “payment for doubtful trainings” totalling N21,383,800.00.
The explanation provided fell short of expectations, so PAC established an ad hoc committee led by Representative Billy Osawaru of Edo State to address the disparities and provide a report within a week.
The institute was charged as lacking efficacy, economy, and efficiency.
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