…gives Bello Koko 48hrs To Answer Queries
…directs Customs to remit N62.2bn to Fed Account
NOSA EGHAGHA
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Senate Committee on Public Accounts (SPAC), on Tuesday, gave the management of the Nigeria Ports Authority a 48 hours within which to appear before it to answer queries on its finances as the Committee raised concern on impunity in the nation’s port authority.
The Committee berated the NPA management for serially snubbing invitation to answer queries on the other over $1 billion, which was reflected in the report of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, expressed disappointment, saying the Committee wrote several letters of invitation intimating the NPA management of need to appear before the investigative hearing on operations and revenue management of the agency, but they declined to appear.
Briefing the Senate Press Corps after the Committee sitting, Wadada pointed out that the Auditor-General’s report was never an indictment, but a means to it, which every government official is offered the opportunity to defend themselves.
He lamented that the Managing Director of the NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, has constituted himself into an authority who felt that he was above accountability.
Snubbing a parliamentary investigative committee, Wadada insisted, “undermines the principles of accountability as enshrined in the Constitution”, noting that the NPA management team and all similar others were occupying the position of trust on behalf of Nigerians.
The lawmaker noted that they have carried out what he called “status enquiry” and discover missing funds, a development that raised further need for discrete inquiry by the Committee.
He said: “Before anything, I will like to reiterate what this Committee stands for based on the understanding and the responsibilities that are expected to be discharged by this Committee.
“This Committee relies partly and not wholly on the Auditor General for the Federation’s audit report to discharge its responsibilities. But beyond, the Committee as well go on status enquiry where it writes Ministries, Departments and Agencies where it wants to know the status of these agencies where those agencies and departments are in question.
“Some of these queries have got something to do with indebtedness of terminal operators which is almost a billion dollars; eight hundred and fifty two million dollars; ninety-three thousand, Seven Hundred and seventy-seven cents.
“There is also an outstanding estate rent, shipping dues, and service boats of over 68 million dollars. The status of long outstanding debtors are all issues to be answered by the Nigeria Ports Authority. This is not to talk about issues surrounding Lagos channel management and Calabar channel management.”
He vowed that his committee would compel accounting officers of agencies of government to do the right for the nation to move forward, adding that the government relies heavily on NPA for revenue generation.
In another development, the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC), has directed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), to refund the sum of N62.2 billion being under remittance of revenue for the year 2017.
The Committee which is considering Auditor General Report for 2019 showed that the revenue agency was queried for under remittance of revenue into the Federation Account 2017 in 2027 to the tune of N62.2 billion.
Chairman of SPAC, Ahmed Wadada Aliyu handed down the directive Tuesday when the NCS appeared to answer questions over infractions of financial regulations for public service.
Festus Okun, Deputy Comptroller General (DCG), NCS in charge of Finance, Administration and Technical Services who represented the CG made frantic to explain that these were pending cases the new management at NCS inherited, which the CG said should be attended to since “government is a continuum”.
The Auditor General’s query was that in 2017, the total revenue collection was N691.2 billion, but the remittance into federation account with the Central Bank of Nigeria was N629.023 billion with under remittance of N62.2 billion.
Mr. Okun explained that the reasons for the differences are as a result of system glitches as multiple transactions are being carried out daily, adding “NCS was the first to start Treasury Single Account (TSA), adding that they have no other account, that it was the collecting banks and the CBN that can sort it out”.
However, the Committee said if NCS was not vigilant to track the transactions, there will the risk that a lot of government money will be lost, leading to increase in government borrowing and diversion of government funds.
The Committee also noted that “Nigeria Customs Service did not try to reconcile the difference between collection and remittance”.
However, Mr. Okun said it is a result of this that the NCS has started quarterly accounts reconciliation leading to banks being suspended sometimes for “under remittance, delayed remittance and non-remittance”.
However, the Chairman of the Committee said his “explanation is not acceptable. You handled this with levity for it to last for seven years”.
Therefore, he directed that the CG appear before the Committee in person in two weeks (December 19) to answer three other queries.
