THE House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has directed the Federal Ministry of Transportation to recover and remit N33,563,469.10 to the Federal Government treasury after it was discovered that the funds were spent on unauthorised foreign travel.
The directive was issued on Monday during the committee’s hearing Chaired by Representative Bamidele Salam on the 2021 Auditor-General’s report.
The audit revealed that three officials from the ministry were paid a total of $3,000 in contingency allowances for trips to Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, Greece and France without the necessary approvals or documentation showing how the funds were utilised.
This action forms part of broader financial irregularities uncovered in the ministry’s accounts, as the audit report raised five major queries against the Ministry of Transportation.
These include failure to provide records for personnel cost expenditures totaling N1,089,848,974.00; irregular transfers of N400,177,312.00 to the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM); unsubstantiated payments for training programs totaling N93,539,100.00; unauthorized international travel expenses of N68,591,119.00; and the award of contracts worth N11,120,000.00 without due procurement process.
A motion for the immediate recovery of the funds was moved by Hon. Olusola Fatoba and seconded by Hon. Amobi Godwin.with the committee demanding refunds of the N33,563,469.10 paid Estacode, visa processing, air fare without necessary approval and proof of how the contingency allowance of $3,000 was used.
The committee also queried a payment of N11,120,000.00 made to the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) for the training of 78 personnel.
It was discovered that three separate payments- N1,260,000.00, N3,060,000.00, and N2,700,000.00 were made without deductions for Value Added Tax (VAT), Withholding Tax (WHT), or Stamp Duties, causing a loss of N947,700.00 in public revenue.
Responding to the query, Mr. Charles Metule, the ministry’s Director of Finance who represented the Permanent Secretary, admitted the oversight and promised the ministry would deduct the appropriate taxes from future transactions and remit them to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The committee, however, ordered the immediate recovery and remittance of the N11,120,000.00 to the federal treasury.
