Audit Queries: Reps Committee Summons Pantami, Aregbesola, Fashola, Others
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday, gave five ministers namely Dr. Isa Ali Pantami (Communications), Rauf Aregbesola (Interior), Babatunde Fashola (Work and Housing) Osagie Ehanire (Health) and Sharon Ikeazor (Environment), a seven-day ultimatum within which to appear before it or have the relevant laws invoked against them.
The ministers are to appear with their Permanent Secretaries and heads of Finance and Procurement departments of their respective ministries.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Oluwole Oke, who issued the summons at the investigative hearing on Tuesday over the refusal by the Ministers and officials of their ministries to respond to audit queries issued by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation over the years, said the Committee insist on the Ministers appearing before it to clarify issues on financial infractions raised by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
Oke specifically said that Aregbesola should appear along with the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the head of the Federal Fire Service.
The chairman therefore directed the clerk of the Committee to dispatch the notice of the summons to the affected ministries and copied to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Federation, Abubakar Malami SAN, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari respectively.
Oke said that members of the House of Reps Committee was forced to report the affected Ministers to the Presidency, being their employer, after several failed attempts to make them to respond to the said audit queries.
Oke further said; “Today makes it the fifth time the Ministry of Works and Housing will be asking for another extension of time on the audit queries raised against it over the years. For how long shall we continue like this? Mr President honoured some people with public appointments but to pay him back, they will not be alive to their responsibilities. This is most unfortunate.
In a related development, the committee has begun an investigation into an alleged missing $40m from the Looted Funds Recovery Account domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It noted that the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, failed to tender relevant documents before it to ascertain the status of the recovered funds in the said account, stressing that the apex bank must bring all the relevant documents requested by the committee to aid its investigation with a view to recovering the money for the government.
The CBN Governor, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Banking Supervision, Mrs C. I. Iguadunasue, was unable to offer satisfactory explanations on the whereabouts of the funds in question.
Accordingly, the House of Reps Public Account Committee ordered the CBN to furnish the committee with relevant documents of all recovered funds within seven days for proper investigation.
The investigation of the CBN is based on a query from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, which questioned the whereabouts of the funds.
