House of Reps direct PCC to refund N22 million over financial irregularity

The House of Representatives committees on public accounts on Thursday directed the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) to refund to government coffers, about N22 million it failed to justify its expenditure.

The panel also ruled that two companies, Ore-Ayo Global Services and Yabri Njem Enterprises said to have carried out ‘cases evaluation’ for the commission worth N12 million and N10 million respectively to appear before it to show proof of job done.

The committee further directed the management of the commission to remove some officers ‎alleged to have played roles in a certain foreign training exercise during which bogus amounts were claimed as expenses.

The committee chairman, Kingsley Chinda (Rivers – PDP) gave the ruling following a session with management officers of the commission, led by its Executive Secretary, Mohammed Bala-Abdul in reaction to queries against the commission by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF).

The AuGF had written the House noting that the sum of N1,258,577.50 being revenue collected from Tenders Board, Auction sales and other sources of government revenue from January to December 2014 was paid to a bank on January, 13, 2015 with no evidence to show that the said money was remitted to government treasury.

He also noted that a contract sum of N12 million was paid in favour of a company on a payment voucher dated 23rd September, 2014 and another N10 million in favour of another company on the same date for the purpose of evaluation of investigated cases.

The AuGF added that since detail of the cases were not disclosed to confirm the authenticity ‎of the transactions on demand, the House Committee should compel the commission to refund the sum of N22 million and return same to the treasury.

On the query regarding the payment of over N3.5 million to 10 staffers who purportedly attended a training programme titled “Sharpen your teeth” in Lusaka, Zambia, the AuGF noted that the purported beneficiaries contained in the composite vouchers did not sign to acknowledge reciept of the monies, contrary to financial rules.

“Also, the materials claimed to have been bought could not be traced in any record, neither were the purchased store items captured on store ledger charge, hence were not accounted for”, the query stated.

Responding to the queries, Mr. Bala Abdul told the panel that having just being briefed of the query‎ and considering that he just assumed office as head of the commission, he would require some time to gather more facts about the said transaction and communicate his team’s position.

Ruling on the queries, the committee held that documents produced by the commission ”are made just for the purpose of the queries.”

It restrained itself from referring the documents to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for forensic investigation.

It also held that the officer(s) involved are to be removed from the duty schedule and disciplined in accordance with public service rules in line with regulation 3115 of the Financial Regulation.

The committee resolved that one Evelyn Umah, said to have retired from the commission should appear before the panel to explain her role in the bogus sums claimed as pocket expenses in Lusaka, Zambia with all evidence of the trip including travelling documents and receipts.