Committee of Representatives Alleges Reckless Spending of AuGF, Finds Billions Spent Without Documents

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The House of Representatives accused the Office of the Federation’s Auditor General (oAuGF) of incurring unnecessary spending as Nigeria grappled with the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

The House said its accusation is based on its observation in the financial records of the approved 2019-2021 budget allocation from the Auditor General’s office.

The president and members of the House committee on public accounts had identified flaws in the financial reports submitted by the OAuGF as well as in those without supporting documents and supporting documents during a monitoring function at the headquarters of the OAuGF in Abuja.

Lawmakers questioned the 1.9 million naira allegedly spent on new clinics, an additional 3.967 million naira spent on drugs and medical supplies as well as 7.721 million naira spent on medical consultations despite the payment of 55.933 million naira. naira for the NHIS contribution as contained in the 2020 financial statement compared to the NHIS contribution of 87.870 million naira paid in 2019.

Oversight lawmakers also demanded the name of the staff of the Auditor General’s office on an increase in personnel costs from N1977 billion in 2019 to N1991 billion appropriate in 2020, despite staff depletion.

During a visit to the facility, the committee’s visit to the oAuGF clinic on the first floor of the Audit House revealed that only two nurses dressed as mufti were seated while a medium-sized oxygen cylinder was seated. stood by the lonely single bed in the supposed health center that would have swallowed up millions.

Meanwhile, the documents presented to the Committee showed that out of the total sum of N984. 231 million allocated in 2019, only 969.487 million naira were released and training swallowed up a better percentage of the funds released.

The legislator however questioned the sums of 120,304,830 N spent on international travel and transport (foreign mission audit, consular offices and 20 defense attachés); 40,710,380 N spent on travel and local transport (training), 286,881,055.18 N additional for travel and local transport, other (headquarters / government office and 100,093,600 N additional spent on local travel as well that 35,710,812 N spent for the general auditors annual conference without specifying the place and the vouchers; N3,527,267 spent on sports activities.

They also questioned the 11,946,250 N spent on social assistance programs without specifying the beneficiaries and the vouchers; N59 million spent on governance / institutional reforms as well as beneficiaries of N696,500 spent on honoraria and sitting allowances and N62.768 million spent on office supplies / computer consumables for the period under review.

The oAuGF also spent N 28,850,080 for the purchase of an unspecified number of desktops and laptops as well as the sum of N 49,999,616.88 without any proof of payment.

Lawmakers have called for the total sum of 1.358 billion naira for overhead in 2020, of which 1.324 billion naira has been released and spent despite the economic lockdown at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the office defending itself has said a larger share of the fund was spent on training and local travel as well as transport, while the subheadings on office rehabilitation and maintenance were duplicated in the capital component of the financial records 2020 made available to the Committee during the oversight function.

Following the discoveries, the Auditor General was unable to justify or reconcile the false expenses recorded in the agency’s books.

Other controversial captions questioned by lawmakers include “; N32.628 million spent on travel and local transport; Additional N 331.455 million on local travel and transport, other (Hqtrs and States), N 25.004 million on international travel and transport; N188.762 million spent on international travel and transport (audit of the foreign mission, consular offices and 20 attachés) and an additional N961.441 million for local training; N21.051 million spent on office supplies / computer consumables; N3.967 million spent on drugs and medical supplies; N96.274 million spent on maintenance of office buildings (Lagos and State offices), N4.395 million more on maintenance of office furniture and N16.830 million on maintenance of office equipment / computer science ; N 4.002 million on other maintenance costs, N 77.284 million on social benefits, N 8.423 million on sports activities, N 6.780 million on fees and seat allowances, N 7,721 million spent in medical consultations despite the payment of N 55.933 million as a contribution to the SNIS; 14.542 million naira spent on governance / institutional reforms; N10.590 million spent on the purchase of desktops and laptops; N72.555 million spent on insurance premiums; N6,194 million spent on refreshments and meals; N24.016 million spent on monitoring / evaluation, among others.

Responding to the development, lawmaker Omowumi Ogunlola from Ekiti State said, “We have a document prepared for us which is preventive. We have no proof or proof of how the money is spent here. At the Public Accounts Committee, we have always insisted that MDAs present proof of their spending. Is it because this is the Auditor General’s office that they will simply give us these documents so that we can see them without any proof of how the budget given to them is being spent?

Ogunlola representatives also sought to find out which office is responsible for auditing the Auditor General’s office.

He said: We do not audit them, but watch them. So, who calls to order the recklessness of the financial expenses of this office ?, asked the legislator.

He underscored the need for the oAuGF to provide all supporting documentation for all expenses incurred by the Organization since 2019 to date, while the committee chair, Oluwole Oke, demanded relevant documentation for the $ 72.555 million. naira spent on insurance premiums in 2020.

The Committee, following the meeting, issued a 7-day ultimatum for the office to submit documentary evidence of all expenses for the three years under review.

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