Some
ex-ministers who served under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan
administration as well as some serving and ex-permanent secretaries and
directors of revenue-generating agencies is set to be grilled by the
EFCC.
File photo
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to grill
some ex-ministers who served under the administration of ex-President
Goodluck Jonathan as well as some serving and ex-permanent secretaries
and directors of budget and finance in charge of revenue-generating
Ministries Departments and Agencies, The PUNCH has learnt.
The fresh investigation, it was learnt, was sequel to a report by
the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, that the Federal Government
would prosecute any official of revenue-generating agencies indicted in
the audit report, which revealed that N450bn was not remitted to the
Consolidated Revenue Fund Account.
Adeosun had said, “Some agencies have never credited the
Consolidated Revenue Fund despite having salary, capital and overhead
(expenditures) financed by the Federal Government. Indeed, cost to
income rates of 99.8 per cent has been the average, meaning that they
spend all their internally generated revenue and subventions released to
them.”
The unremitted amount, which involved about 33 revenue-generating
agencies of government, was for the 2010 to 2015 fiscal period which
falls under the leadership of Jonathan.
Some of the agencies are the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria
Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, National Health
Insurance Scheme, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and Nigerian
Communications Commission.
Others are the Nigerian Postal Service, National Information
Technology and Development Agency, Nigerian Television Authority, Bureau
of Public Enterprises, National Pension Commission and Nigerian Bulk
Electricity Trading Plc.
The list also has the Raw Materials Research and Development
Council, Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Export Processing Zones
Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, and the Council for the
Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.
It was gathered that the commission would this week interrogate the
affected officers, a majority of whom served between 2010 and 2015.
A source at the EFCC said, “We will invite the permanent
secretaries of some of the agencies because the permanent secretaries
are the chief accounting officers. We will also invite the directors of
finance and budget in some of these agencies while the ministers that we
believe may have approved such spending will also be invited.
“We discovered that many of these infractions had been taking
place but never received much attention from the Federal Government
because of the excess oil money during the Jonathan administration. Now
that the Federal Government is cooperating fully with us, we will look
into the matter thoroughly.
“We discovered that many agencies have never paid any money and
never generated any operating surplus including some whose salaries,
overheads and capital are paid by the Federal Government. In addition to
that, they generate revenue which they spend without any form of
control.”
The EFCC told a correspondent that many of the heads of the agencies were already under probe or were already being prosecuted.
The detective noted that a former Director General of the Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, and
some directors of the agency were already being prosecuted for an
alleged N34.5bn fraud.
The source at the EFCC said, “We are aware that money which was
meant to be deposited into the Consolidate Revenue Fund Account was
diverted while agencies were making extra-budgetary expenses. In some
instances, such was done with the collusion of ministers.
“You are aware that a former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah,
gave approval to the NCAA to spend N255m on two cars. We have already
charged her.’’
Source: Punch
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