NNPC Did Not Remit N3.3trn To FAAC – Auditor-General

The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) yesterday submitted a damning 2014 audit report of all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to the leadership of the National Assembly.

The submitted audit report also captures embassies and foreign missions.

The AGF, Mr Samuel Ukura, who presented a copy of the report to the clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikaswa, for both chambers, gave highlights of how monies were diverted or spent by MDAs during the period under review.

According to the AGF, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not remit N3,234577,666,791.35 to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in January 2014.

The report states that the sale of gas to Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to the tune of $235,685,861 was not paid to the federation account; rather, it was transferred to some undisclosed Escrow accounts.

“Relevant documents were not made available for verification,” AGF noted in the report.

The report also indicates that the acquisition and payment of N3,630,000,000 property was made without a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).

According to the report, a total payment, amounting to N73,547,759,436, was made contrary to established purpose of the funds.

Other revelations of the audit report include: “The sum of N36,432,423,968.73 was released to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for the rehabilitation and construction of dams instead of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

“The sum of N2,894,531250.00 was spent for the procurement of hand sanitisers for schools and critical public places.

“The sum of N31,324,952,239.87 was payment of subsidy on fertilizer and youth employment in agricultural programmes.

“The sum of N2,395,851,978.00 was payment for Group Life Assurance Premium for Armed Forces budget in 2013, but not backed. The sum of N500,000,000 was made as payment for agricultural programmes.

“These were variances with the purpose of the fund. No evidence of these lines of expenditure in the 2014 Appropriation Act,” the AGF revealed in the report.

nnpc_01Ironically also, the management of the National Assembly, headed by the Clerk, made payments of N9,514,568,222.62 without raising payment vouchers, which, according to the AGF, violated the nation’s financial rules.

In the same period under review, personal advances were granted to 112 staff of the National Assembly from recurrent votes and 50 members of staff from general service votes from July to December, 2014, for various purposes, all amounting to N1.162,009,305.00.

In the audit report, the AGF revealed how the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington DC, United States of America, realized Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of $3,705,428 between 2012 and March 2015, but expended the whole amount on sundry expenses.

The audit report also indicted the leadership of the Nigerian Prisons Service. The AGF, in the report, said the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax of N2,036,758,176.75 was deducted and was said to be remitted to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), but there is no evidence of remittance and nothing was produced for audit confirmation.

At the time of filing in this report, our correspondent could not ascertain when the Clerk to the National Assembly woul forward the report to the leadership of both chambers for further consideration.