The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday summoned former Managing Director of Nigeria Ports Authority NPA Mr Habib Abdullahi and Director of Finance and Accounts of the agency to appear before it within seven days over their inability to audit the account of the agency for four years.
Chairman of the House Committee on Public Account Hon Wole Oke gave the ruling at resumed investigative hearing of the Committee on failure of the over 300 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs to render audited accounts to the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation as required of them by the laws since 2014 to date.
Other former and current Heads of the MDAs were also summoned to appear before the Committee are immediate past Director-General DG Solid Mineral Development Fund SMDF Mr Mahi Shehu Ahmed and his counterpart at the National Teachers Institute Kaduna Dr.Aminu Ladan Salihu, two former Director Federal of the Nigerian French Language Village, Badagry Lagos, a former Director of Finance and Account of Center for Citizenship, Mr Henry Akincbola and Leadership Training Abuja and other officers of the agency.
The Committee which quized the Managing Director of the NPA Ms Hadiza Bala Usman and Chief Executive Officers CEOs of the MDAs government agencies over their inability to render their audited accounts to the Auditor-General’s office as at an when due threatened the officials concerned to be ready to refund to the Federal Government all salaries and allowances paid to them while in office since they had failed woefully to perform their official responsibilities.
However, the NPA boss said that the Agency had submitted its last audited accounts up to 2016 and only awaiting the Board’s approval for the 2017 and 2018 audit reports to be submitted to the office of the Auditor General of the Federation
She however said the Board of the Agency was dissolved and while the new one would be inaugurated before the end of this week after which the report would be presented for the Board’s consideration
However, the committee frowned at the delay in the submission of the report and the signing of previous years audit report by the agency and consequently placed it under status enquiry for thorough investigation
The Committee also gave the NPA boss a seven-day ultimatum within which to submit the audited accounts of the Agency to the new Board on inuaguration for approval and for eventual rendition to the office of the Auditor General of the Federation.
In the case of the National Teachers’ Institute , NTI, Kaduna, the Committee directed both its Director General and Bursar to refund all salaries and benefits collected to the federal government for their failure in their official responsibilities while the DG of the Solid Mineral Development Funds was given a seven day ultimatum to render its financial accounts to the office of the Auditor General of the Federation ot
