Bombshell: FG Revenue Generating Agencies Loot 90 % Cash
Vanguard
learnt Thursday night that the Federal Ministry of Finance, which has
been studying the diversion of generated funds by the key agencies of
the government, laid bare the matter before the National Economic
Council, NEC, with convincing evidence that the nation had been
short-changed by agencies engaged to generate revenue for it.
“In fact, this ungodly practice has been going on for over a decade, making the government to lose revenue in trillions of Naira and we have reached a point in this country to put a stop to the fraud and bring the culprits to account for their misdeeds,” a top Federal Government official said. The fraudulent practice, according to a top official, is said to have been going on for over a decade, making some top MDA officials to smile to their banks and leaving the Federal Government with little or no revenue to meet its obligations to Nigerians.
“In fact, this ungodly practice has been going on for over a decade, making the government to lose revenue in trillions of Naira and we have reached a point in this country to put a stop to the fraud and bring the culprits to account for their misdeeds,” a top Federal Government official said. The fraudulent practice, according to a top official, is said to have been going on for over a decade, making some top MDA officials to smile to their banks and leaving the Federal Government with little or no revenue to meet its obligations to Nigerians.
And, apparently to get
the process right and bring the suspected elements, and agencies that
have been diverting huge government revenues for personal uses, the
Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, OAGF, is said to
have devised and put in place to monitor the generation of funds and
disbursement by revenue generating MDAs. A top administration officials
said : “Already, some of the discoveries have been catalogued and
forwarded to both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for further
investigation and prosecution of those found wanting. “Some persons have
been invited by the anti-graft agencies for questioning following some
representations made by the Ministry of Finance.
“In the process of
investigation, it was discovered that some of the organizations hide
under existing legislations that permit their use of a fraction of what
they generate as running cost to fritter away as much as 90% of the
total revenue they generate, even when the Federal Government is still
directing funding both capital and recurrent expenditure of such
agencies. “Apart from outright embezzlement of funds, it has been
discovered that some of the organistions indulge in very irregular
financial activities including paying salaries above RMFAC
specifications, converting official cars to personal ownership,
monetizing medical allowance arbitrarily, paying for unapproved overseas
travels and lavish training allowances, granting excessive personal
loans as well as cases of unapproved mortgages.
“It was learnt that in
some cases, brand new cars were sold out two months after purchase at
25% of cost price; while hospitals that rake huge revenues from medical
bills remained without functional generators and basic facilities
whereas the revenue generated had been frittered away on frivolous
subheads. “It might interest you to know that for some time now, both
the OAGF and the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission
(RMFAC) have been carrying out subtle auditing of the revenues of the
Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigerian Ports
Authority (NPA), Federal Government-owned Hospitals and schools and have
discovered mind-boggling financial abuses, including misappropriation
of funds and outright fraud.
But apparently trying to
bring the hidden matter to the fore for the first time, the Minister of
Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun on Thursday confirmed the financial
brigandage of the RGAs when she briefed the National Economic Council
(NEC). She told NEC that her Ministry and RMFAC were working together to
rein in the abuses pointing out that the agencies which often raise
more than N1.5 trillion, about a quarter of annual national budget,
squandered more than 90% of those earnings on frivolities.
Bombshell: FG Revenue Generating Agencies Loot 90 % Cash
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