The House of Representatives Committee on Finance on Wednesday queried the National Examinations Council (NECO) over the sum N636, 778, 000 which it failed to remit in the 2019 financial year.
The Committee, chaired by Hon James Faleke, (APC-Lagos) grilled the Acting Registrar, Ebikibina Ogborodi, and other top executives of the examination body for hours at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Mr Ogborodi said they had an operating surplus of N1, 278, 462, 493 of which they were to remit 80 per cent (N1, 022, 769, 994) to the government in which the sum of N385, 991, 627 was remitted.
The Acting Registrar said this was because the examination body was being owed by some states governments.
According to him, “The balance is because some state governments who did the examinations are yet to pay out of which Zamfara was the highest debtor with N1, 220, 234, 000.
” Others are Adamawa (N281, 455, 500), Kano (N240, 043, 000), Gombe (N7, 214, 150), Bornu (N40, 027, 675) and Niger (N234, 453, 157).
He said they had written to relevant authorities to help with the recovery of the money.
However, Hon Faleke, who did not seem satisfied with the response of the told the examination body on the transactions, threatened that the Accountant General would block the account of the examination body and only make money available to it to conduct examinations.
He directed that the examination body should come back in two weeks with all relevant documents about its transactions.
The Committee chairman earlier summoned some agencies who failed to turn up for the investigative hearing to appear before them on Thursday.
According to him, “We expected NECO and they are here. The National Youth Service Corps, Industrial Training Fund, National Broadcasting Commission, and Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) are to appear before us unfailingly tomorrow or we use the constitutional means to get them here.”
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