Skip to main content

NSITF claims termites ‘ate’ payment vouchers as senate probes N17bn spending

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has failed to justify the spending of N17.16 billion in 2013 with the required documents.


Appearing before the senate committee on public accounts on Friday, the agency’s management claimed that some of the payment vouchers have been eaten up by termites.

The N17.158 billion, as stated in the 2018 audit report of the office of the auditor-general of the federation, was the total amount transferred by NSITF from its Skye (now Polaris Bank) and First Bank accounts into various untraceable accounts belonging to individuals and companies from January to December 2013.

“The management of the NSITF as shown in statements of Account No. 1750011691 with Skye Bank Plc, for the period January 2013 to December 20, 2013, and Statements of Account No. 2001754610 with First Bank Plc for the period January 7, 2013 to February 28, 2013, transferred amounts totalling N 17,158,883,034.69 billion to some persons and companies from these accounts,” the query reads. “However, payment vouchers relating to the transfers together with their supporting documents were not provided for audit. Consequently, the purpose(s) for the transfers could not be authenticated.

“These are in violation of financial rule 601 which states that, ‘All payment entries in the cashbook/accounts shall be vouched for on one of the prescribed treasury forms. Vouchers shall be made out in favour of the person or persons to whom the money is actually due.

“Under no circumstances shall a cheque be raised, or cash paid for services for which a voucher has not been raised.”. But the present and past management of the NSITF could not offer any satisfactory explanations for the undocumented multiple transfers.

The officers in charge of the agency in 2013 told the committee that they left documents like vouchers behind.

But Michael Akabogu, managing director of NSITF, said that no documents of such were in their kitty.

“The container the said documents were kept by past management has not only been beaten by rains over the years but even possibly being eaten up by termites,” Akabogu said.


“As directed by this committee, I told the past management officers about the need for them to help us out in answering this query with necessary documents which have not been made available for us.”

In his submissions, Umar Munir Abubakar, the managing director of NSITF from 2010 to 2016, said that he was unaware of the query and had no explanations for it since the audit was not carried out during his tenure.

Adebayo Somefun, who was the head of the agency from May 2017 to July 2020, said that those in the account section should be able to trace the documents which the current general manager of finance alleged to have been locked up in an abandoned container within the premises of the agency in Abuja.

Irked by the submissions of the past and present NSITF officials, Mathew Urhoghide, chairman of the committee, ordered them to reappear before the committee with all the requested evidential documents unfailingly on Thursday, September 22, 2022.... 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Australian government launches offshore petroleum exploration permits for 47,000 sq km of ocean

Resources minister says exploration ‘central to alleviating future domestic gas shortfalls’ but Greens slam ‘mockery’ of climate target The Albanese government has launched its first offshore petroleum exploration permits, opening up nearly 47,000 sq km of Australian waters to oil and gas exploration. Ten areas stretching from the Ashmore and Cartier Islands in the Indian Ocean to Victoria’s Gippsland basin have been opened for exploration, in what the resources minister, Madeleine King, said would “play an important role in securing future energy supplies”. “At the same time as we strive to reduce emissions, it must be emphasised that continued exploration for oil and gas in commonwealth waters is central to alleviating future domestic gas shortfalls,” she said. “Australia’s energy sector also continues to support international energy security, particularly during the global turbulence caused largely by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”. But the move will further alarm enviro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crime increased in areas trialling cashless debit card programs, government analysis suggests

Coalition claims scrapping cards could lead to ‘tsunami of trauma’ but federal department analysis of available data paints a different picture Crime rates have increased or remained steady in regions hosting cashless debit card programs, according to the department of social services, as the Albanese government prepares to abolish the controversial welfare program within weeks. Critics of the government’s decision have claimed the card’s axing would increase crime and alcohol abuse, but the department has claimed its analysis of police data has shown total crime rates, assault and property damage have gone up in areas where the income management tool was being trialled. Labor promised during the election campaign to abolish the cashless debit card, which quarantines between 30% and 80% of welfare payments and was designed to prevent money being withdrawn as cash or used to pay for alcohol or gambling. A bill to scrap the card passed the House of Representatives earlier thi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cost of living crisis pushing more women into sex work - and unable to refuse dangerous clients

More women are turning to sex work for the first time, while others who have managed to leave it behind are having to return in order to pay their bills,.. With inflation at a record high and wages failing to keep up with spiralling prices and energy bills, the number of calls to the English Collective of Prostitutes has increased by a third this summer. Based in north London, with a national helpline and hubs throughout several major cities, the network advises women in all lines of sex work on how to keep themselves safe and stay within the law where possible. Spokeswoman Niki Adams, who has helped thousands of women over 30 years, said: "The cost of living crisis is now pushing women into sex work in various ways - whether that's on the street, in premises or online. "Across the board what we're seeing is people coming to that work from a place of desperation. "That means they are much less able to protect themselves from violence and exploitation....
Post a Comment
Read more