The Pending Audit of COVID-19 Funds’ Utilisation

James Emejo writes on the withheld audit report on the utilisation of the CoVID-19 intervention funds and the need for a truly independent and powerful audit institution that is free from political manipulation

 No doubt, since the outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic globally and in Nigeria in particular, the federal government has spent huge resources in trying to contain the public health issue, and keep the economy afloat at the same time.

As lockdowns and restriction movements were further announced to curtail the spread of the virus, the federal government had been responsive by taking measures to ameliorate the economic and social impact of the pandemic on particularly vulnerable Nigerians.

In the process, the government embarked on several interventions, committing billions of naira to ensure that the businesses and households are not left stranded in the interest of the economy.

To boost consumer spending, among other things, the government embarked on targeted interventions in various sectors of the economy as well as expanded the social safety net to cater to the most vulnerable in the country.

Funding commitments

The Minister of State, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Prince Agba, while giving a breakdown of the COVID-19 expenditure in the country, disclosed that the total package included N500billion stimulus from a special federal government account in the budget and N1.8 trillion through financial institutions.

According to him, from the N500 billion stimuli from the revised 2020 budget, there was the provision of N126 billion to build a resilient health system in Nigeria to prevent possible loss of lives.

He also said that the government set out to improve health infrastructure by building molecular labs in 52 federal medical centers and teaching hospitals across the country.

He said, “Others include the provision of isolation centers, paying hazard allowance for health professionals, providing personal protective equipment for security agencies and hospitals to continue their operations supporting agencies like the NCDC, NAFDAC among others to play their roles in combating this pandemic.’’

Agba said that a total of 522 ICU beds were provided amounting to 10 ICU beds in each of the 52 federal medical centers and teaching hospitals across the country adding that the federal government also took measures to support states’ response to the pandemic, adding that in the first instance, 50 per cent of the N500 billion was released to the various responsible agencies.

Agba, further noted that “Most of the MDAs received at least 50 per cent of the budget for projects, like Ministry of Agriculture which has N34 billion as the budget for rural roads was given 50 per cent of that amount and they were also given 50 per cent of the amount for land preparation which is N1.25 billion.

He added that the mass rural electrification and solar power strategy had N6.2 billion released to them while FERMA received N30 billion for bridges and major roads, as well as the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment which got N75 billion MSME support programmes.

The Federal Medical Centres (FMC) with about N49 billion budget also had 50 per cent of that amount allocated, he said.

Transparency in funds’ administration

However, amidst the huge spending by the government to contain the pandemic, Nigerians had expressed concerns over issues of transparency and accountability in the proper usage of the intervention funds.

Their anxiety particularly holds water in view of the endemic corruption and gaps in financial accountability, especially among public officials.

There were allegations that a huge chunk of the intervention had been diverted into private pockets, insinuations that even made some Nigerians nurture the belief that COVID-19 never existed.

Auditor-General’s probe

Perhaps, to fulfill its mandate as the Supreme Audit Institution in the country, and given the emerging scenario, in October 2020, the then Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF), Mr. Anthony Ayine, had hinted that the first interim audit report on the COVID-19 intervention funds would be released the next week.

He said the maiden report would assess the utilisation of funds released to manage the pandemic starting from the period the Presidential Task Force (PTF) was established up till June 30.

 He added that the report will subsequently be published quarterly.

Ayine, who declined to comment on the highlights of the report, citing administrative protocol of first submitting its findings to the National Assembly before making its content public, had noted that there was a possibility that such funds may have been mismanaged in the process of implementation.

The AuGF also insisted that the roles of permanent secretaries and chief executives of the federal government-owned parastatals remained crucial for the successful execution and implementation of the government’s annual budgets.

 He said, “Audit essentially is not fault-finding but to add value to the auditee organisation and if the management of auditee organisations are able to realise that the recommendation from the audit office should be implemented: because when implemented will bring about improvement in the performance of these organisations.

“It is our hope that going forward, chief accounting officers or accounting officers will see audit report as a necessary instrument to help them improve performance their various organisation.”

Report still in limbo

However, two years down the line and with a new Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr. Adolphus Aghughu in charge, the fate of the much-expected audit report on the use of COVID-19 funds is unknown.

THISDAY investigation further revealed that no copy of the proposed report had been presented to the National Assembly to date, a development, which observers believed might not be unconnected with vested interests who would not want the findings published.

 Weak audit institution

There had been further concerns that the existing Act establishing the Office of the Auditor-General does not currently provide the institution with the independence and powers to enforce accountability and punish breaches where necessary.

The annual report of the auditor-general, which is often submitted to the National Assembly is more of a recommendation as the former lacks lack the powers to sanction financial infractions by MDAs.

Also, because of the inherent weaknesses in the Audit Act, public institutions don’t often take audit queries seriously, a development that had always been highlighted in its reports to the legislature.

 Already, there is an Audit Bill before the National Assembly seeking to give more powers to the OAuGF to hold public entities to account for their actions. But whether the bill will see the light of the day is another issue.

If anything, Nigerians are eager to know how the COVID-19 intervention funds were dispensed in the interest of transparency and accountability.