The Senate on Wednesday ordered the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA to recover $10 million paid for legal fees and technical charges without recourse to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, CRF.
Senate also indicted the Office of Accountant General of the Federation, AGF; National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC and 45 other ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs of the federal government.
These were sequel to the reports of 2017 and 2018 of the Auditor General for the Federation, AuGF considered by the Senate Public Accounts Committee, SPAC which was adopted on Wednesday.
According to the AuGF report, the $10 million expected to be recovered was $5 million for legal fees and an additional $5 million for technical charges.
It further explained that the $5 million was the five per cent of the $9.3 billion Nigerian hydro-carbon loss between 2013 and 2014, adding that the law firm, which was not disclosed, was expected to carry out necessary legal actions that would enable NIMASA to perfect an intelligence-based efforts to track the nation’s hydro-carbon global movement.
The report also indicated that the money was paid from Zenith Bank (UK) Dollar account. The query reads in part: “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.
“It was 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 $9.3 billion between 2013 and 2014, with a start-off cost of $5 million and five per cent 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.
“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.”
Other MDAs indicted by the 2017 and 2018 reports also include the Office of the Accountant General for the Federation; Federal Ministry of Environment; National Library; Financial Reporting Council; Federal Ministry of Finance; Federal Mortgage Bank; Energy Commission; Nigerian Copyright Commission and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria.
The rest are the Federal Ministry of Justice; Federal Civil Service Commission; Public Complaints Commission; University of Uyo; University of Abuja; Federal University, Oye Ekiti and the National Examinations Council, NECO.
The Vice Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Hassan Hadejia, assured Nigerians that the committee would submit a bill seeking strict implementation of the National Assembly recommendations on Annual Federal Audit Reports and other related matters, 2023 (SB.117) by next week which would enable the country to fight corruption.
PIAK
