THE Senate Public Account Committee has revealed that former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, signed N26 trillion financial statement for Nigeria without the knowledge of the then Finance Minister, Ahmed Zainab.
The revelation came during the consideration of the audit report by the Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Ahmed Wadada.
In a 2019 report submitted to the National Assembly, the Auditor-General of the Federation said Idris single-handedly signed the document without counter-signing by the then Minister of Finance, against financial regulation.
The query read, “The Accountant-General of the Federation was the only officer of the Federal government of Nigeria that signed the consolidated statement of financial position without indicating his FRC of Nigeria registration number, (a) component that carries the approval of the CFS contrary to the extant regulation.
“There was no signature with FRC of Nigeria registration number of the Honorable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning on the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position.
The committee alleged that the anomalies were due to weakness in the internal control system in the consolidation process.
Responding to the allegation, the Acting Accountant General of the Federation, Toyin Madein, said she was not the AGF when Idris signed the statement.
The co-signing of the statement was introduced to ensure accountability in the management of public funds.
The ICIR reports that Idris and others have been facing prosecution by the Federal Government over alleged N109 billion fraud that resulted in his suspension.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.