EFCC to Grill Jonathan’s Ex-Ministers, Perm Secs Over Unremitted N450bn

EFCC to Grill Jonathan’s Ex-Ministers, Perm Secs Over Unremitted N450bn

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has once again turned its searchlight on the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan as it has announced plans to grill some ex-ministers in the era as well as some serving and ex-permanent secretaries, and directors of budget and finance in charge of revenue-generating Ministries Departments and Agencies.

According to Punch, this follows a claim by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, that the Federal Government would prosecute any official of revenue-generating agencies indicted in the audit report, which revealed that N450bn was not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account for the 2013 to 2015 fiscal period.

Adeosun had said, “Some agencies have never credited the Consolidated Revenue Fund despite having salary, capital and overhead (expenditures) financed by the Federal Government. Indeed, cost to income rates of 99.8 per cent has been the average, meaning that they spend all their internally generated revenue and subventions released to them.”

Some of the affected agencies are the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, National Health Insurance Scheme, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and Nigerian Communications Commission.

Others are the Nigerian Postal Service, National Information Technology and Development Agency, Nigerian Television Authority, Bureau of Public Enterprises, National Pension Commission and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc.

A source at the EFCC said, “We will invite the permanent secretaries of some of the agencies because the permanent secretaries are the chief accounting officers. We will also invite the directors of finance and budget in some of these agencies while the ministers that we believe may have approved such spending will also be invited.

“We discovered that many of these infractions had been taking place but never received much attention from the Federal Government because of the excess oil money during the Jonathan administration. Now that the Federal Government is cooperating fully with us, we will look into the matter thoroughly.

“We discovered that many agencies have never paid any money and never generated any operating surplus including some whose salaries, overheads and capital are paid by the Federal Government. In addition to that, they generate revenue which they spend without any form of control.”

It was also learnt that many of the heads of the agencies were already under probe by the anti-graft agency or were already being prosecuted.