AGoF, Mr. Samuel Ukura

By Onwuka Nzeshi

The Auditor General of the Federation (AGoF) has queried the non-remittance of about N4 trillion by various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government into the Consolidated Revenue Fund over a seven-year period.

A 399-page audit report on the accounts of the Government of the Federation for the year ended 31st December 2009 revealed that the Consolidated Revenue Account recorded a huge shortfall running into billions, while the $200 million transferred from US investment bank, JP Morgan, was omitted from the Consolidated Revenue Account as at August 13, 2009.

According to the report, 93 out of 108 MDAs also failed to disclose the nature of accounts with closing balances totalling N422,374,981,449.18 in 2009 fiscal year, while N22,941,514,567 being “cash held from external loans” had no comparative figure.

The report further showed that N214,826,243,694 accrued into a sinking fund, interest due on floatation of bonds, among others, were unknown, while N524,372,523,275.79 extracted balances on capital accounts of 185 MDAs “had not been remitted into the Consolidated Revenue Fund as at  December 2009”.

The report, which was endorsed by the AGoF, Mr. Samuel Ukura, was transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and adopted as a working document by the House Committee on Public Accounts.
Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Hon. Solomon Adeola, told reporters yesterday that the committee had concluded its investigations on the audit reports spanning 2003 to 2009.

According to him, the committee’s report contained over 700 recommendations covering 60 out of the 601 MDAs indicted by the Auditor General's Report.

Adeola, who expressed concern over the level of corruption in the country's financial system, assured Nigerians that the House would get to the root of the non-remittance of public funds by these government agencies.