Aisha Alhassan
As
controversy continue to trail the Minister of of Women Affairs and
Social Development, Aisha Alhassan, over her public support for Atiku
Abubakar for 2019 presidential election, an investigative report has
indicted her.
Payments totalling N11,700, 000 were made by the Federal Ministry
of Women Affairs and Social Development to enable Minister, Aisha
Alhassan, and some other staff members to embark on ‘familiarisation visits’ to unnamed skill acquisition centres in selected states in 2015, a report from the Auditor-General’s office has revealed.
Interestingly, part of the funds was spent on November 11, 2015, the day the minister was officially sworn-in.
The report which contains observations made on the underlying
accounting records of ministries, departments and other agencies of
government is the latest from the Auditor-General’s office.
According to the report, an “audit investigation established
that the purported acclaimed appraisal visits to skill acquisition
centres were never undertaken.”
Details of the report further show irregularities in payment processes, record keeping and dating of the said visits.
The audit committee observed that: ‘‘all the attached receipts
for fuelling did not indicate quantity in litres, the rate per litre,
dates of purchase and vehicle number of the fuelled vehicles.
”The International hotel receipt of 23/11/15 which was issued
for the hiring of a mini-bus from a hotel to unnamed project sites
rendered the receipts doubtful.
”Hiring of cars to Project Sites at ridiculous rates of between
N75,000.00 and N77,000.00 for two days as appeared on receipts numbers
910 of 22/11/15, 107 of 24/11/15, 0416 of 27/11/15, 531 of 25/11/15, is
contrary to exercise of the due economy in line with the provision of
Financial Regulation 415.
More worrisome is the date which appeared on some of the receipts.
Reports of the investigation by the audit committee revealed that part
of the expenses for the verification visits was made on the day Mrs.
Alhassan was sworn in.
”Receipt number 5206 of 11/11/2015, the date the Minister was
sworn in by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and receipt
number 11622 of 8th of November, 2015 with amount N100,000.00
respectively are not clear. The two receipts were for servicing of a
vehicle two times within 3 days,’’ the report noted.
Following these irregularities and in the absence of any
justifiable defence, the Auditor-General has mandated the ministry to
refund the N11,700,000 to the federation account.
Mrs. Alhassan did not pick calls to her phone when contacted to reach her for response to the report.
The 656-page audit report recently unearthed unsettling revelations
when it said cumulative unremitted revenue from domestic crude oil
sales by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, stood at
about N3.878 trillion as at December 31, 2015.
The report, which formed part of the submissions in the 2015 Annual
Audit Report of the Federal Government Account by the OAuGF, said the
state–owned oil company withheld about N644.377 billion in 2015 alone.
The report also said that at least 44 assorted arms belonging to
the Nigerian police could not be accounted for between 2013 and 2015,
raising fears the weapons could have ended up in the wrong hands.
Source: PREMIUM TIMES
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