The Nigerian Senate has mandated the Federal Ministry of Works to repay a whopping sum of N692 million. The amount was allegedly spent on fictitious contracts which were detailed in the 2018 report of the Auditor General for the Federation, AuGF.
The decision was made after the Senate Committee on Public Accounts evaluated the report and discovered that due process was not followed when awarding a contract of N343 million for the purchase of project monitoring vehicles. In addition to this, no vehicles were supplied for the contract, which raises more suspicion. Furthermore, the committee found that another contract worth N139 million was awarded for services, purchase of vehicle spare parts, computer accessories, and photocopying machine parts, as well as designing the nation’s roads and bridges.
The audit report revealed that N210 million meant for documentary was split into N130 million and N80 million and paid into a staff account which violates financial regulations. According to the report, N130 million was purportedly used for the capture of developmental projects, including other ministries like Finance, Agriculture, Transport, Petroleum Resources, Mines and Steel, Trade and Investment. Yet, there were no receipts or retirement particulars to justify the payments.
The Chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Mathew Urhoghide (PDP Edo South), stated that the Ministry of Works was invited to defend the allegations raised by the Auditor General for the Federation, but no response was received. The queries from the committee are therefore sustained, and the Ministry of Works, through its Permanent Secretary, is obligated to account for the funds and pay it back to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, CRF.
