Kehinde Fajobi
The Auditor-General of the Federation has exposed irregularities involving over ₦6 billion in payments made under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for non-existent students’ tuition fees and other unaudited transactions.
The revelations were contained in the Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses for 2020 and 2021.
The report highlights significant breaches of financial regulations and the mismanagement of public funds.
A breakdown of the anomalies includes ₦1.53 billion paid as tuition fees to various universities without supporting documents such as receipts or admission letters.
The report noted that this violated Paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations, 2009, which prohibits payments for unperformed services or unsupplied goods.
In addition, the report revealed that ₦3.62 billion was disbursed without internal audit checks, and ₦1.3 billion was paid and entered into the cash book without issuing vouchers.
The Auditor-General’s office observed that the management of the PAP failed to comply with extant regulations.
It stated, “The sum of ₦1.529,669,500 was paid to various universities as tuition fees for students under PAP, and relevant supporting documents were not attached to the paid vouchers.”
Further examination showed ₦29 million was granted as cash advances to officers for procurements exceeding the ₦200,000 limit. .
“Some officers were granted multiple advances without evidence of retiring previous advances, contrary to extant regulations,” the report added.
Additionally, ₦87.7 million was paid for store items without evidence of proper documentation or entry into store ledgers.
The report attributed these lapses to a weak internal control system at the PAP office in Abuja and noted that attempts to get a response from PAP management were unsuccessful.
The Auditor-General recommended that the interim PAP administration explain the irregular payments to the National Assembly, recover and remit mismanaged funds to the treasury, and provide evidence to the Public Accounts Committees.
It also urged sanctions as outlined in Paragraph 3106 of the Financial Regulations, 2009, to address the irregularities.