THE senate has indicted the budget office of the Federation, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Information and 36 other ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) over unretired advances to federation Account.
This is sequel to the consideration of the 2015 Auditor General’s report by the senate public accounts committee (SPAC) Chaired by Senator Mathew Uroghide.
In the resolution, the senate demanded the sanctioning of the accounting office of the said MDAS in accordance with the provisions of Rule 3124 of the Financial Regulation.
According to the Auditor General’s report, some MDAs showed an increase in outstanding advances to the tune of N2,296,567,084,37 over 2014 comparative figures while others showed no movement contrary to the provisions of the extent regulations which require prompt retirement of advances.
The above implies that:
There is a violation of financial regulation 2009 NOS 1404, 1405, 1416, 1419 and 1420 which require prompt retirement of advances.
The huge outstanding advances imply a breakdown of internal controls over the issuance of advances.
The Non-retirement of advances as at when due should be addressed by the Accountant General of the Federation with strict sanctions,” the report said.
However, according to the committee, the Accountant General did not respond to this query. The committee observed that non response to a query means acceptance of the infractions contained therein and this is again a violation of the financial regulation.
