Audit Query: Reps Committee summons Corporate Affairs Commission Boss over illegal aproval of budget, extra- constitutional expenditures

……warns against further disobedience of parliament summons

The Public Accounts Committee, PAC, of the House of Representatives on Tuesday summoed the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar over allegations of illegal approval of budgets and extra-Constitutional expeditures over the years

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon Busayo Oluwole Oke (PDP-.Osun) gave the summon at the beginning of the investigations of over 100 Ministries, Departments and Agencies MDAs of the Federal Government alleged by the Auditor General of the Federation to be Operating illegal budgets and extra- Constitutinal expeditures over the years

The Committee accused the heads of the MDAs of undermining the Constitutinal power of the President by getting their budegets approved through the back doors and rejected a Team led by Mrs Glory Essien to represent the Commission and insisted the CAC boss must cause appearace in person with a warning to make him a sample for others should he failed to honour the final Summon

Hon Oke wondered why the heads of the MDAs would take pleasures in getting allocations from public monies but would not want to give proper accounts of how they utilised such allocations

The CAC boss is being expected to appear before the Committee with the followings:

• Copies of the budgetary estimates the Commission presented to the Mr President through the Budget Office of the Federation with respect to the 2015 to 2022 fiscal year
  *Copies of the budget estimates that was presented to the Mr President shich in turn presented to the National Assembly
• And Confirmation on whether the Constitutionally laid down process was complied with prior to expenditures from the Internally Generated Revenue by the Commission with documentary evidence
• Approved Budget (both Appropiation and IGR 2021 and 2022) amogst others

The Committee also grilled the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof Tanko Ishaya over similar and gave him more time to come back with necessary documents to defend his presentation.

The Investigations will continue today