The Senate on Wednesday indicted 37 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government for various financial infractions.
The alleged offences are contained in the 2016 report of the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF) which was adopted by the Senate.
The resolution of the Red Chamber followed its consideration of the report of the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) which considered the report, which was presented by its Chairman, Matthew Urhoghide (PDP Edo South).
But the Senate resolved to send the report containing of the indicted MDAs to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) for necessary action.
Among 37 agencies that were indicted in the report include the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AcGF), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the Budget Office of the Federation.
Also indicted are: Ministries of Defence; Justice; Finance, Budget, and National Planning; Information and Culture; National Population Commission (NPC); National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA); Pension Transition Arrangement Directorate (PTAD); Federal Fire Service (FFS), Bank of Agriculture (BoA); National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), among others.
The Committee said: “The AuGF, for the year under review, issued queries to 92 MDAs, 80 submitted written responses and appeared before the panel to defend the queries against their MDAs, eight submitted memoranda in response to the queries but did not appear before the committee, while four MDAs failed to either appear or submit responses to the Committee, despite several reminders to that effect.
“Out of the 80 MDAs that appeared before the Committee, 43 had their queries vacated while the queries of 37 MDAs were sustained.”
The Senate upheld the indictment of 37 MDAs for violation of financial procedures of the Federal Government.
The Red Chamber, among others, said it would propose a Bill that will compel the Executive to enforce the implementation of the outcome of the AuGF’s report submitted to the National Assembly for consideration.
The committee accused the AGF, among other infractions, of maintaining an Excess Crude Oil/Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/Royalty Account without legal authority.
It issued a query over the matter, and the Accountant General of the Federation was said to have “noted the query”.
But “the committee observed that the Accountant General did not answer the query” and recommended “the relevant agencies and FAAC (Federation Account Allocation Committee) should initiate the process of legalising the creation of Excess Crude Account” worth about $376,655,589 (N102.6 billion).
On poor record keeping for lifting of crude oil to two refineries, the committee said the Accountant General of the Federation could not state the actual quantity of crude oil lifted.
The query, according to the AuGF report, reads: “From the review and examination of domestic crude oil lifting sales profile presented for audit verification, it was noted that several deliveries were stated to be jointly lifted by or delivered to Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company without necessary details or breakdown of what was delivered to respective companies.
“From the examination carried out, a total oil lifting of 8,399,017 barrels with a total sales value of $376, 655,589 (N102.6 billion) was stated to have been lifted jointly by these two companies.
“The failure to properly separate these deliveries and charge directly to each company makes it difficult to reconcile and account for each lifting.”
But the committee, in its summary of the query, said: “Several deliveries of crude oil were stated to be jointly lifted by or delivered to Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) without specific details or breakdown of what was delivered.”
The NNPC, now NNPCL, in its response, said: “The deliveries of crude oil from Escravos Terminal for the operation of Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) are channeled directly into WRPC facility. Thereafter, WRPC pumps the required quantity to KRPC.”
The committee said the Accountant General could not state the actual quantity of crude oil lifted and delivered from WRPC to KRPC.
The Senate adopted the recommendation of the Committee, which directed the Group Managing Director of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, to ensure that specific details of crude delivered to the two refineries are provided for audit.
The committee queried the book-keeping of many government agencies, especially their financial records, revenues, and expenditures.
For instance, on low revenues from export sales of crude oil and gas into the Federation Account, the query reads: “Examination revealed it was unclear as to how and where the asset values of investments in Joint Ventures are determined and reported.
“Besides, only a marginal sum was returned as revenue from the export of crude oil and gas revenue inflows to the Federation Account for the year 2016.”
On the response of the agency to the query, the committee said: “The Accountant General stated that NNPC’s distribution of the Federation Account’s Joint Venture Cash Call is strictly guided by the Appropriation Act.”
The committee observed that the nation’s investment in Joint Venture Cash Calls had “not been profitable” and recommended that “all Joint Ventures should be fully disclosed in the financial statements of the Federation, with clear information on the amounts invested, its profitability or otherwise of each venture”.
