Alleged Illegal Expenditures: Senate Set To Probe Lamido Sanusi

CBN-SanusiThe Senate has finalized plans to conduct an in-depth investigation into alleged illegal expenditures by the Sanusi Lamido Sanusi-led Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), running into about N138billion.

Already, senators have been put on notice of an impending motion listed in the notice papers for deliberation at a date no further than two weeks from now.

The motion, which sponsored by Senator Ita Enang (PDP, Akwa Ibom) is titled “Mobilising Non-Oil, And Generating Oil Dependent Revenue Into The Federal Treasury Through Fiscal Responsibility by Adherence to Statutory Mandate and Due Process In The Conduct of Public Procurement”.

The probe seeks to establish if the funds spent by the CBN is the 20 per cent of its operating surplus and where the 80 percent was paid into and when.

In what looks like a move to beam the searchlight on the apex bank after Mr. Sanusi had consistently maintained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has refused to remit $20 billion crude oil proceeds into the federation account, the lawmaker specifically singled out the CBN among all the agencies that fall within the purview of the Fiscal Responsibility Act for probe.

According to Enang, who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, the CBN had awarded and is still in the process of awarding projects from its operating surplus, instead of paying such sums into the Consolidated Revenue Fund to be appropriated by the National Assembly.

The CBN, he further alleged, has within the last three years committed about N50billion as intervention in tertiary institutions in the education sector alone, not considering intervention in the health sector, hospitality and tourism among others. These projects, Enang said, include projects above N1billion.

In the motion, Enang is praying the Senate to grant the following:

“Mandate the Senate Committees of Finance, Judiciary Human Rights and Legal Matters, to conduct a public hearing on the loss of revenue into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation through evasion of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, acting against and beyond the mandate given by law to the agencies, breach and evasion of public procurement laws and regulations, among others, and in general, for the purposes of determining:

“If and whether the funds spent by the agencies listed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act is the 20% of their operating surplus, and if it so be, where the 80% of their operating surplus were paid into and when.

“If the committal of funds by the Agencies are for projects and programmes within the core mandate or in any manner ancillary to the purpose for which they were each set up, etc.

“If and whether these Agencies are by the provisions of the Public procurement Act bound to submit their procurement to the Bureau of Public Procurement to consider, vet and issue a certificate of No Objection or otherwise before public procurements are consummated.

“By way of peer review, to compare the actions and expenditures of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Nigeria Ports Authority and other Agencies listed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act with such Treasury or Central Bank of other countries, National Oil Companies of other countries such as United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, France, Australia and generally equivalent institutions of other countries and conclude if such institutions in those countries operate in the manner that Nigeria’s do.

“To determine if, and whether, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission as presently constituted should not be dissolved and appropriately reconstituted with responsive constituents.”

The senator further informed that the Senate noted that, “Whereas the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) provides in Section 80 (1) as follows: All revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

“Whereas the Fiscal Responsibility Act in Section 21 has provided that all government agencies and corporations as listed in the schedule to the Act cause to be prepared and submitted to the Minister their Schedule estimates of revenue and expenditure for the next three financial years who shall cause same to be compiled and submitted along with the Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly.

“Whereas the said Act provides in Section 22 (1) and (2) and 23 (1) as follows:

22. Operating surplus and general reserve fund

1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any written law governing the corporation, each corporation shall establish a general reserve fund and shall allocate thereto at the end of each financial year, one-fifth of its operating surplus for the year.

2) The balance of the operating surplus shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government not later than one month following the statutory deadline for publishing each corporation’s accounts.

23. Classification of corporation operating surplus

1) The corporation’s surplus be classified as a Federal Treasury Revenue

“Whereas the Public Procurement Act in Section 3 (1) establishes an agency known as the Bureau of Public Procurement; Whereas the Public Procurement Act provides in Section 15 that the provisions of the Act shall apply to all procurement of goods, works, and services carried out by

1.         The Federal Government of Nigeria and all procurement entities;

2.         All entities outside the foregoing description which derive at least thirty-five percent of funds appropriated or proposed to be appropriated for any type of procurement described in this Act from the Federation share of Consolidated”.

The motion is already listed and could be taken up when the Senate resumes plenary next week Tuesday.

It would be recalled that the CBN governor had in the past objected to attempts by the National Assembly to have their budget vetted. On several occasions, Mr. Sanusi had cited the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and in most cases, insisted that it was only the board of the CBN that had the statutory powers to appropriate for him.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Sanusi is behaving like he is fighting the Government, If 2 Government agencies have descrepancies on Govt funds,is it in the newspapers they reconcile? or in the senate chamber? today 48b missing,tomorrow its 10b,now its 20 b.It shows this man is either having some mental distress or he is fighting the FGN .A CBN governor should not be behaving this way,or donating money to own state institutions

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