A Senate Ad-hoc Committee says Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, is to blame for the loss of about N1.7 trillion to the treasury between 2012 and 2016.
The Committee on Alleged Misuse, Under-Remittance and Other Fraudulent Activities made this known in an interim report presented before the Senate plenary on Tuesday by Olamilekan Adeola, Chairman of the committee.
According to the report, the amount of money that was not remitted to the coffers of the Federal Government by several revenue-generating agencies in those years amounted to approximately N1.7 trillion.
The panel said the development was as a result of a memo allegedly written by Okonjo-Iweala, which permitted the agencies to spend 75 percent of the revenue on internal expenditures and remit only 25 percent to the government.
The committee stated that the directive by Okonjo-Iweala “is a clear violation of Section 120 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 as well as the establishment acts of some of these institutions”.
A total amount of N21.5 trillion was supposed to have been remitted by 93 government agencies within the period in review, but 25 out of the 93 agencies defrauded the federal government of a total of N1,695,585,887,406, the report states.
According to the panel, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which is Nigeria’s highest revenue earner, generated N15.541 trillion during the period in review, but it claimed that its expenditure was N18.657 trillion. This amounts to a total deficit of N3.1 trillion.
The Nigeria Customs Service generated N335.855 billion but withheld N83.963 billion; while the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) generated N455.5 billion but allegedly failed to remit N33.83 billion.
Similarly, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) reportedly remitted only N86.636 billion to the federal government out of the N789.104 billion it generated.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allegedly generated N3.098 trillion but remitted only N13.716 billion; NIMASA generated N301.160 billion but remitted only N184.489 billion, and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) remitted only N5.567 billion out of the N56.817 billion it generated.
The senate committee alleged that the affected agencies “deny the Auditor General of the Federation access to their financial books and records”, contrary to Section 125, subsections 3 and 4 of the Constitution.
The committee recommended that the Senate should “amend the laws where necessary to make it mandatory for all revenue generating agencies to accommodate resident auditors to be posted by the Auditor General of the Federation”.
These auditors will have access to all financial records and books to ensure compliance with relevant sections of the Constitution.
“The Senate should also amend the laws where necessary to make it mandatory for all revenue generating agencies to accommodate resident treasury officers to be posted by the Accountant General of the Federation that will have access to all financial records and books,” the report read further.
“The Fiscal Responsibility Act should be amended in a way to compel all agencies and institutions of government on compliance with financial regulations regarding income generation, accounting and remittances.”
There are two sides to every story and this writer as just twisted a part of the story to suit its need. The truth is that Okonjo Iweala does things in the best interest of the country.
I see nothing but propaganda here!
the truth always hurts
let hear her side of the story before we start judging her
We may think the woman knows a lot about the money because after all she is the Minister of Finance, but not withstanding, put yourself in her shoes, is it everything going under your own roof that you will know
The Economy was not so bad during her time or was it?
Hmm mm, All I know is she is an heroine
This woman you are talking about didn’t she attacked corruption to make Nigeria more transparent for job?
it is this same woman that established each states monthly financial allocation from the federal government
Don’t let start giving ourselves headache over spilt milk, let look at the way forward and not vice-versa
The Senate Committee’s report on this issue is clearly a misrepresentation of the good intentions of Dr Okonjo Iweala. The fraudulent practices in those revenue agencies was worse before she issued the Memo mandating each them to remit at least 25% of the total generated revenue. This means that most of them remitted lesser than expected even before the Memo.
No government is clean. But twisting the good intentions of others doesn’t make you right.
No government is clean. But twisting the good intentions of others doesn’t make you right.
Can we just stop this senseless blame game and face the real issues?
Did anyone ever imagine the gravity of corruption going on in most revenue generating institutions in the country that warranted the Memo? Before this Memo, there was no fixed percentage of revenue these institutions are to remit. They only pushed in the crumbs of their embezzlement.
To end the madness in the country, NOI came up with a brilliant strategy to stop corruption: Each institution must remit at least 25% on the revenue generated. Since, the excuse for them is expenditure, they were allowed to use the remaining 75% on expenditure. Intelligent. Nigeria needs more women and leaders like Okonjo Iweala.
Cynics have the same quality. They believe the lie, and refuse to get the facts for truth. NOI brought sanity to the Federal Government. Her works are indelible.
It’s funny how Nigerians twist information to damage the reputation of people not in their caucus. NOI has not been charged for any corrupt practice. Her good intentions are always misinterpreted….
This administration is just finding fault in the previous one, APC wake up and face the reality
Nigerians we are so good in criticising other people NOI is one of the women we ought to pray for as our leader not the other way round