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Unaudited Accounts: Reps query NNPC, CBN, others

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The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has submitted its report on ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government that failed to render their audited accounts within eight years.

Prominent among those indicted in the report laid at the plenary on Thursday by the committee’s Chairman, Oluwole Oke, were the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (now Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited), Niger Delta Development Commission, and Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

It was titled, ‘Report of the Committee on Public Accounts on the Deliberate and Reckless Refusal by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government to Render Audited Accounts for the periods 2014–2018 and 2019–2021 to the Auditor–General for the Federation and Approve the Recommendations Therein.’

In the report, the committee recommended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission prosecution, warrant of arrest issued against chief accounting officers, and sanctioning of various MDAs.

The committee urged the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; the Accountant General of the Federation; and Auditor-General for the Federation to jointly issue a government circular specifying strong sanctions against agencies that violated Financial Regulation 3010 for the 2019 -2021 financial year.

The committee also stated that “many agencies often violate the Appropriation Act by deliberately subjecting their internally generated revenue to some committees (of the National Assembly) directly overseeing them for approval and expend same illegally without Mr President’s assent.”

In its findings in the first batch of investigations covering 2014 to 2018, the committee said some MDAs complained that the procurement process of hiring their external auditors was cumbersome, which was the reason for operating during these periods without being audited.

The committee said it also discovered gross negligence by directors of finance and accounts/bursars in some MDAs in ensuring the accounts were audited duly, including delay in the appointment of governing councils/boards and in approving/signing audited accounts by the governing councils/boards.

According to the committee, some incumbent chief accounting officers refused to sign audited accounts prepared by former CEOs, while some MDAs submitted unsigned accounts. Also, some letters evidencing remittance of audited accounts to the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation had either faint or no acknowledgement of receipt stamp.

The committee, therefore, recommended that all MDAs should be directed to submit their audited account on or before May 31 every year.

It also recommended that a board or governing council meeting should be convened to sign audited accounts immediately after it was submitted by external auditors, noting that in the absence of a board or governing council, the supervising body of the MDAs should sign audited accounts to avoid delay in rendition to the Office of the Auditor-General.

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