EHIME ALEX, Lagos
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federal may found itself in a legal battle soon, if it fails to clear the air on the payment of N173 billion made into various accounts of government.
The payments were said to have been carried out by OAGF without due diligence to proper financial rules, transparency and accountability.
In a statement on Tuesday made available to NATIONAL ACCORD, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda, (HEDA Resource Centre) queried why such huge amounts would have left the treasury without clear details of the transactions.
It therefore called on the OAGF to explain to Nigerians how and why such a huge sum was paid into different ministries and parastatal without proper schedule on what the funds were meant for.
It said, “Unless the OAGF complies, the prospect of a legal prosecution by HEDA may be imminent.”
Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption group said on Monday.
In a letter filed in line with the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, the Nigeria’s leading anti-corruption group, HEDA, in partnership with a data advocacy organisation, Dataphyte asked the Accountant General of the Federal to within seven days furnish the organizations with full information and disclosure on what the funds lodged between January and April 2020 were meant for.
“One of the cardinal principles of accountability is that payments made by the OAGF into any government account must give details of what the funds are meant for. This is the best global practice adopted by many countries who are committed to the fight against corruption” HEDA said in the letter said to be signed by its Legal Officer, Rebecca David.
It noted that on May 29, a media concern, Dataphyte published a report titled, “₦173 Billion Payments Without Description Defeats Nigeria’s Open Government Initiative” indicating the failure of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to properly describe payment made to contractors and government agencies.
HEDA said this was observed in a Dataphyte analysis of data on the Open Treasury Portal which showed that ₦173 Billion worth of payments between January and April 2020 had no description. The payments are cumulative records of 1,353 payments to various ministries, parastatals, security agencies, educational institutes, among others.
HEDA said it also attached details to the request.
HEDA also attached detailed information containing the analysis highlights, date, payment number, payer code, name of organization, name of beneficiary and amount while the purpose and description of each payment was not stated, hence the need for this request.
HEDA noted that the between January 2020 and April 2020, indicated that payments made were not described to capture the purpose or description of the payment urging the Accountant General to provide a comprehensive and detailed description on the payment made within the stipulated period.
The Accountant General of the Federation is the administrative head of the treasury, usually appointed by the President for a period of four years in line with the Nigerian constitution. The office was created in 1988 under the Civil Services reorganization Decree 43. The OAGF is responsible for the management of payments and receipts and mandated by law to ensure transparent accounting system.
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply