137 MDAs Didn’t Submit Audited Reports to Auditor-General in Three Years

Kingsley Nwezeh

The 2021 Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard compiled by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has shown that 137 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) did not submit their audited accounts to the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in the last three years.

The report also showed that 20 MDAs assessed by the commission did not have governing boards in place.

Where boards were in place, 100 of the MDAs did not hold regular meetings even as 164 MDAs did not conduct periodic self-assessment for board members.

The findings, an indication of endemic corruption in MDAs, revealed that 169 of them and 56 per cent of the number assessed did not have policies or codes regarding acceptance of gifts, donations, hospitality and therefore not enforced.
“These lapses are veritable channels for receipts of gratification on pretexts of gifts and hospitality by staff in the identified MDAs,” it stated.

The assessment contained in the “Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard of MDAs in Nigeria,” further stated that 174 MDAs did not comply with the Public Procurement Act 2007, while 100 MDAs, procurement planning committee composition were not in compliance with PPA 2007.

Same defect was noticed in 88 MDAs where tender boards composition was in contravention of the PPA 2007.
“This promoted procurement and due process abuse and fraud,” it said.

“196 MDAs did not have a training plan and 171 MDAs did not support ethics and compliance initiatives,” it stated.
In terms of employment, the report stated that all MDAs assessed denied employing staff during the period under review.
“Although all the MDAs visited said there was no employment in 2020, responses to request on recruitment from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation vide letter Ref: HCSF/2031/VolII dated 8th October, 2021, revealed that 14 MDAs out of the 26 MDAs that obtained waiver from the OHCSF to carry out recruitment exercise in 2020 were captured in the deployment exercise,” the report added.
“This reflects a total of 1,959 out of 3,309 recruitment approved. However, in this survey, all the MDAs assessed denied employing staff during the period under review.

“Though personnel of these agencies are regularly exiting the system through retirements, resignations, terminations, dismissals, deaths, etc., yet the number of personnel keeps rising and the wage bill keeps increasing”, the report said.

The ethics and integrity compliance also depicted the absence of a strategic action plan in 140 MDAs while 187 MDAs did not conduct monitoring and evaluation of their projects in six months before the deployment and assessment exercise.

The ICPC report, therefore, recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation direct MDAs to submit audited accounts to OAGF and the public accounts committee.

“Lists of defaulting MDAs should be submitted to the president, SGF and the ICPC,” it said.

“Further inquiries and investigation should be conducted on personnnel cost of government especially surreptitious recruitments and appointments called “replacements” which are generally denied by MDAs but personnnel cost remains huge despite exit of staff through retirement, resignation, terminations, dismissals and deaths,” it said.

“The findings that MDAs do not have boards indicate opaque and rudderless leadership structure which negatively impacts on governance, validity and productivity of the affected MDAs”, it said.

The report advocated that, “ICPC advise direct and instruct MDAs on the policy of keeping functional and effective added verification units”, and the importance of producing and implementing strategic plan, conducting system study and review, corruption risk assessment to assist in institutionalising integrity and accountability.”