THE House of Representatives has given the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, a 72-hour ultimatum to submit a detailed report of how N100 billion in COVID-19 intervention funds were spent.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun), said the ultimatum followed the failure of the AGF to comply with the committee’s resolution to submit the report on October 27, 2023.
As a result, he directed the AGF to transmit the report before the close of work on Friday, November 3, 2023.
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The resolution followed a motion on the ‘Alleged mismanagement of COVID-19 intervention funds from 2020 to 2022’, approved by the federal government for various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) between 2020 and 2022.
Salam said, “A letter was written to the Accountant-General to furnish the committee with details of all releases pursuant to the provisions of the Appropriation Act as well as other interventions captured by the release from Central Bank of Nigeria to different ministries, departments and agencies of government.
“That letter, I was duly informed, showed that submission is expected on or before October 27, 2023. As we speak, that input has not been received from the office of the Accountant=General of the Federation.”
Salam said the document would guide the investigation proceedings and enable the House to carry it out within a timeframe.
The ICIR reports that the world responded to the devastations accompanying COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 with different measures.
While morbidity and mortality from the disease soared globally, the Nigerian government, private organisations and well-meaning citizens rose to support the nation’s health systems to combat the virus.
The private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID)
In several reports in 2022, The ICIR
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 nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.