Senate Accuses Former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo Iweala Of N1.7 Trillion Loss As They Reveal How It Happened.

Posted by: tony in Politics Oct 24, 2017

Former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been blamed by the Senate ad hoc committee for the alleged misuse, under-remittance and some other fraudulent activities on the loss of N1.7tn.

This was contained in a report on Monday, October 23, released by the lawmakers which stated that the former minister was to blame for the failure of agencies to remit revenue to the tune of N1.7tn generated between 2012 and 2016.

The Panel which was chaired by Senator Olamilekan Adeola, said the amount that was to be remitted to the federal government during the period by 93 agencies it investigated was N21.5tn.

The report reads in part: �Most of the revenue generating agencies deny the Auditor General of the Federation access to their financial books and records, which is in conflict with Section 125, Subsection (3) a (i and ii); and Subsection (4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

�Consequently, the committee recommends as follows: that the Senate should amend the laws where necessary to make it mandatory for all revenue generating agencies to accommodate resident auditors to be posted by the Auditor General of the Federation that will have access to all financial records and books, and to ensure compliance with Section 120(i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

�The Fiscal Responsibility Act should be amended in a way to compel all agencies and institutions of government on compliance with financial regulations regarding income generation, accounting and remittances.

�The Senate should also amend the laws where necessary to make it mandatory for all revenue generating agencies to accommodate resident treasury officers to be posted by the Accountant General of the Federation that will have access to all financial records and books.”