Public Accounts: We won’t allow representation by proxy, Senate tells MDAs

The Senate Committee on Public Account has advised heads of Ministries, Department, and Agencies to honour the Committee summon as it scrutinises their audited reports.

Chairman of the Committee and Senator representing Edo South, Mathew Urhogide gave the warning on Tuesday at the public hearing in which the agencies were invited to present the audited reports for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Invited were Audited General of the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Comptroller General of Customs, Head of the Service of the Federation, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) and seven others.

The invitation was sequel to the observation of the Auditor General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine, who has notified the National Assembly that ”160 agencies defaulted in submission of audited accounts for 2016; 265 agencies defaulted in submission of audited accounts for 2017, and that eleven agencies have never submitted any financial statements since inception.”

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Ayine in his recommendation contained in the Executive Summary to the Senate Public Accounts Committee, the Auditor General said “stringent sanctions, including withholding financial releases and sanction of the chief executive officer should be imposed on defaulting agencies that do not render timely accounts as provided in the constitution, financial regulations and other relevant laws.”

The report further revealed some defaults in the audit report of the MDAs, saying “a number of major weaknesses and lapses in the management of public funds and resources were identified across several MDAs during the annual audit.”

The Chairman Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew A. Urhoghide, had at a press briefing last November listed 25 defaulting MDAs that had not responded to their inquiries to enable the Senate carry out its oversight functions.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Senator Urhogide who frowned at the absence of the Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris said his Committee would not allow the heads of the MDAs to be represented by proxy.

He said the Public Account Committee was a creation of the Constitution and there would be no sacred cows.

His words: “We are going to look into all our extant rules, the Public Procurement Act, Fiscal responsibility Act, financial regulations and all other laws that have to do with public spending.

”I want you to be as serious as possible and for those agencies talking about representation, it is not going to be allowed. So you go back and tell your principal, we are going to subordinate you to the oath and anything you tell us.

”Tomorrow, if anybody takes us to court, we are going to have proper justification and evidence to say yes, you came to the national assembly and this is what you said.

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“So if you are going to answer these queries through proxies, it is unacceptable. You must tell your heads that there are consequences that have been earmarked in the financial regulations if you were to spend money without authorisation, the regulation says you should be removed from office.

“That is what we are going to tell the President of this country, the executive must comply that you are removed from office.

“Nobody is going to shave your hair while you are out there. Therefore if you send somebody to come and tell us it is unacceptable, even if you do not appear, it only means that you have accepted the guilt and we are right about you.”

None of the agencies was allowed to make presentation yesterday as the Senate Committee adjourned its sitting to Thursday, in deference to the mood of the National Assembly which suspended plenary in honour of the late Senator representing South Senatorial District, Senator Ignatius Longjan who died over the weekend.