Senate Asks NPA, BPE, 57 Others to Refund N300bn
By Deji Elumoye
The Senate yesterday approved the 2015 report of its committee on Public Accounts which indicted 59 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government that have been asked to refund over N300 billion to Federation Account.
It also faulted the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over its non-remittance of N3.8 trillion realised from crude oil sales in 2025 alone while mandating the anti-graft agencies – Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to go after government officials responsible for diverting funds during the year under review.
The voluminous report had been submitted two weeks ago for the upper chamber’s consideration and approval by the Committee Chairman, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, but the Senate at plenary had asked the panel to summarise the report before consideration.
The Senate panel, for over a year, had been investigating expenditures of federal government agencies from 2015 – 2018 based on audit report by the Auditor-General for the Federation.
Presenting the report yesterday, the committee Chairman, Senator Urhoghide, disclosed that 114 MDAs were queried in the 2015 audit report, out of which 59 had their queries sustained after probe.
In the course of the investigation, Urhoghide said his panel observed across board, the incessant violation of extant rules by the MDAs.
Commenting on the report, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, said his calculation of the total misappropriated funds by the federal agencies amounted to over N300 billion.
Ruling on the issue, the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, said the agencies would be given 60 days to refund the monies, adding that after the ultimatum, the National Assembly could involve the anti-graft agencies.
After exhaustive debate on the report, the Senate considered the report clause by clause and mandated the indicted agencies to comply with Senate resolution within 60 days.
In approving the report, the upper chamber
faulted the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for under-remitting the sum of N3,878,955,039,855.73 trillion revenue from domestic crude oil sales to the Federation Account for the period of January to December, 2015.
Accordingly, the Senate called on the corporation to desist from further deduction at source as this contravenes Section 162(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
It also mandated the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) or any other approving authority to, as a matter of urgency, approve agreed percentage which should be allocated to NNPC monthly as operational cost to ensure that their operations are not adversely affected.
These formed part of the 59 recommendations adopted by the Senate and contained in the report of the Committee on Public Accounts on the Annual report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the Accounts of the Federation for the years ended 31st December, 2015.
On Unretired Advances involving 39 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to the tune of N2,296,567,084.37 billion, the upper chamber demanded the sanctioning of Accounting Officers of MDAs in accordance with the provision of Rule 3124 of Financial Regulations.
It also gave the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, a 90-day ultimatum to identify and sanction officers responsible for mismanagement of public funds to the tune of N54,151,360,000 billion ($274,280,000.00) as exchange loss on External Loans.
The Accountant General is expected to report back to the Senate Committee on Public Accounts within 90 days.
In addition, the Senate gave another 90 days timeline for the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to set in motion the process of recovery of Internal Loans made from other Funds which stands at N390,288,085,668.92 billion and to be paid back into the Special Funds Accounts.
In another vein, the Senate directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to recover the sum of N378,879,674.99 tax revenue from Webb Fontaine Ltd and remit same to the Federal Inland Revenue Service within six months.
It also called for a review of all companies that were paid from the out-flow of one percent CISS Account which amounted to N39,557,671,843.97.
The upper chamber also directed the Nigerian Posts Authority to refund the sum of $37,627,939.75million (USD) to the federal government coffers due to lack of diligence in the review of NPA’s charges on a contract of Towage services.
It also mandated the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to subject the Accounting Officer to investigation in accordance with Rule 3112 (I and II) of the Financial Regulations.
The Senate also demanded that the Director-General who authorised the disbursement of contingency provision on the contract for the rehabilitation of Lagos Habour moles to the tune of N417,099,309.06 without Federal Executive Council approval to be reported to President Muhammadu Buhari in accordance with Rule 3103 of the Financial Regulations.
On other funds diverted by the NPA, the Senate demanded a refund of various sums in local and foreign currencies, consisting of N1,075,266,599.06, $2,301,329.54 (USD), and €196,257.42 (Euros) meant for the Presidential Implementation Committee on Marine Safety and Security (PICOMSS) to the account of the National Security Adviser to the President, contrary to a directive approved by the Federal Executive Council on February 21, 2007.
It added that the non-remittance of another N67,508,041,250.00 for 2013 and 2014 into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), being 25 percent of its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) contravened the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
The upper chamber further noted that the failure to remit capitalised interest to the Consolidated Revenue Fund totaling N99,712,464.24 between 2013 and 2014 contravened Rule 236 of the Financial Regulations.
On financial infractions by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Senate called for the sanction of the Permanent Secretary in accordance with Rule 3129 of the Financial Regulations and Public Service Rules 030402 over the diversion of N23,642,000.00 from the Capital Projects Funds for purchase of Sallah/Christians welfare package to staff of the Ministry.
The upper chamber queried the sums of N46,645,000.00 and N56,418,135.00 for the printing of the Ministry’s letter-headed paper, and demanded that the sum be recovered and paid back to the treasury.
It also called for the identification of the Project Accountant who authorised the diversion of N32,783,052.00 meant for IPPIS training and other programmes to bank accounts of staff of Finance and Accounts Department, instead of paying the approved amounts to beneficiaries.
The Senate demanded the refund of the amount to government coffers, including the sum of N718,911,848.00 made in the cashbook as payments to eleven corporate bodies without documentation.
In addition, the chamber called on the Ministry to identify and present for disciplinary action, the officers behind the authorisation of N98,400,000.00 in favour of a company for printing of leaflets for the Petroleum Industry Bill awareness campaign Programme; N54,000,000.00 to a company for assessment and documentation of oil spill sites in ten (10) states of the Niger Delta; and N25,000,000.00 for actualising e-governance procedure.
The infractions, the Senate noted, were in violation of Rule 3117.
The Senate called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to prosecute within 30 days, the Officers in the Ministry of Youths and Sports (National Sports Commission) who certified the payment of N37,185,000.00 from the Capital Vote allocation.
It also directed that N2,695,985.00 be recovered from the emolument of the Director-General of the Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), who authorised that the sum be paid to individuals instead of a company’s account.
The Senate, accordingly, also demanded the prosecution of the Accounting Officer with SMEDAN who approved the sum of N38,038,238.14 without relevant and supporting documents in contravention to extant laws.
In meting further disciplinary actions, the chamber called on the EFCC to prosecute within 30 days, officers of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) who were behind the non-remittance of accrued interest on investment in Nigeria Treasury Bills.
It also sought the prosecution of officers of the National Hospital, Abuja, and the Rural Electrification Agency within the same time frame, who were involved in the diversion of N20,915,998.00 and N14,086,246.00, respectively.
The Senate requested the Medical Director of the Jos University Teaching Hospital to refund the sum of N26,321,041.01; and the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta to pay back N19,382,047.50 to the Treasury.
The list of MDAs and the amount they are to refund to government coffers include Nigerian Port Authority (NPA)- N68.87billion, Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE)- N8.84billion, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) – N4.53billion , Ministry of Niger Delta- N1.77billion, Federal Mortgage Bank – N369 million, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB)- N995 million , Ministry of Petroleum Resources – N821.9 million, National Agency for Drugs Administration and Controls (NAFDAC)- N1.88billion.
