The Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) openly disagreed with the Office of
the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) over an
alleged N70billion contract fraud between 2008 to 2012.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Public
Accounts on Monday, officials of the Office of The Attorney General Of The Federation had alleged
that over N70 billion worth of contract by the NDDC
between 2008 and 2012 were unaccounted for.
The Attorney General of The Federation had in 2015, submitted its report to the senate
committee alleging that the NDDC paid the amount for
about 1723 contracts and paid mobilization fee while the
contractors didn’t report to site.
According to the report: “further scrutiny of the records
revealed that 90 per cent of these contracts were
awarded between 2011 and 2012 and some of these
contractors had about four jobs.
“The N70 billion did not even include some contractors
who went to site but had very minimal achievements and
those whose contract had been declared as stalled,” the
report further said.
The AGF therefore said that the blame should not only
go to the contractors but also to the management of the
NDDC who were awarding contracts without site
identification.
However in a swift reaction, Mr. Jimoh Egbejule, Director
of Finance of the NDDC said that it discovered in its
records that only N11 billion was paid as mobilization fee
during the period referenced by the OAGF.
He said that the commission had contracted a consultant
to look into its books and only N11 billion was discovered
as mobilization paid within the period under review.
However, representatives of the Accountant General’s
office, who were at the public hearing insisted on the
initial figure of N70 billion.
In view of the disagreements, the committee chaired by
Sen. Andy Uba gave the institutions four weeks to meet
and reconcile their records and report back to the
committee.
Sen. Ubah while noting that the Managing Director of the
NDDC was still new and had no knowledge of the issues
said the committee would reconvene in one month to
consider the matter.
The senator said: “I want to assure Nigerians that the 8th
Senate Public Accounts Committee will ensure that there
is transparency, probity and accountability in the
management of public funds.
“All government financial transactions must be conducted
according to financial regulations, extant acts and the
constitution. The committee will like to urge all MDAs to
respond promptly to its requests and summons to avoid
sanctions.”
While responding to questions after the public hearing,
Mrs Ibim Semenitari, Acting Managing Director of the
NDDC said that there could be some errors in the report.
While apologizing for the discrepancies, she said that the
commission would immediately get to work and
investigate the details of the Auditor General’s report.
The acting MD added that the commission under her
leadership would not shield any contractor that is found
to have defaulted in contract execution.
She said: “Government is a continuum and there are
documents to look at: quite frankly the Auditor General’s
queries are in the interest of the country.
“The Senate Public Account Committee is to hold
institutions accountable to the people of Nigeria. For us
we will go back we sit with the Auditor General’s office,
we will look through our records and respond to each
query one after the other.
“You also have to understand that sometimes in
documentations, there will be inconsistencies but not
necessarily indicative of fraud. Once the Auditor General’s
Office finishes a check, they will raise queries and it is for
the institution to respond to those queries and once they
respond the AGF will then produce a report.
“So as it stands we are at the level of looking at those
queries and responding to them. Even though I wasn’t
there at the time, I can assure you that this is a
government that is committed to transparency there will
be no reason to hide if there are things to expose.
“We welcome this and we can assure you that there will
be no sacred cow, there will be no hiding place, we will
respond in all honesty, we will not shield any contractor.”
Text culled and edited from orderpaper.ng
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