The Senate has demanded that the Federal Ministry of Works repay a staggering amount of N692 million, which is believed to have been spent on fraudulent contracts mentioned in the 2018 report by the Auditor General for the Federation (AUGF).
This decision was reached by the Red Chamber after reviewing the report through its Committee on Public Accounts. The committee uncovered that a contract worth N343 million had been awarded for the purchase of project monitoring vehicles without following proper procedures, and no vehicles were actually supplied. Additionally, another contract worth N139 million was awarded for services, including the purchase of vehicle spare parts, computer accessories, photocopying machine parts, and the design of roads and bridges in the country.
The report also revealed that N210 million, originally allocated for documentation, was divided into N130 million and N80 million and deposited into a staff account, which is a violation of financial regulations.
The Senate panel, chaired by Senator Mathew Urhoghide (PDP Edo South), stated that it had sent multiple invitations to the Ministry of Works, requesting their response to the allegations raised by the Auditor General for the Federation. However, there was no response from the implicated officials, leading to the continuation of the inquiries.
The inquiries that were raised were: “Audit observed that the sum of N343 million was paid for the purchase of 36 project monitoring vehicles without following due process.
“Further examination revealed that the 36 vehicles were not received into the store as there was no document to show such delivery.
“Audit observed that advances in the sum of N139 million were granted on service and direct purchase of vehicles spare parts, computer accessories, photocopying machine parts for the design of Nigerian roads and bridges.
“There was no store record of those items to show that they were purchased.
“Audit observed that N210 million meant for documentary was split into N130 million and N80 million paid into a staff account contravening FR 713.
“Further examination revealed that the sum of N130 million was purportedly used for the capture of developmental projects, which included other ministries like Finance, Agriculture, Transport, Petroleum Resources, Mines and Steel, Trade and investment.
“There was no receipt or retirement particulars attached to the payment vouchers to justify the payments.
“The approval for the sum of N80 million was made to the Director of Finance and Account, which was above his approval limit.
“There was no evidence to show who the producer of the documentary was, or whether they were selected on a competitive basis.
“There was no evidence to show the work was actually done.”
Subsequently, based on the committee’s suggestion, the Senate upheld the raised concerns and directed the ministry, led by its Permanent Secretary, to be held accountable for the funds and initiate repayment to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
