By Charles Igwe
The House of Representatives has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, demanding a comprehensive report on the utilization of the N100 billion COVID-19 intervention funds released by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies between 2020 and 2022.
Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun), delivered this directive in Abuja and expressed disappointment over the AGF’s failure to comply with the committee’s resolution to submit the report by October 27, 2023.
Hon. Salam emphasized that the House had tasked the committee with investigating “expenditure incurred under the COVID-19 interventions, especially in the year 2020 and up to 2022.”
He further elaborated, “A letter was written to the Accountant General to provide the committee with details of all releases pursuant to the provisions of the Appropriation Act and other interventions covered by releases from the Central Bank of Nigeria to various Ministries, Departments, and agencies of the Government.”
“As of now, that document has not been received from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. This is a very crucial document that will guide our investigation, as mandated by the House.”
Addressing the Deputy Director of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Hon. Salam instructed him to inform the Accountant General of the Federation about the default in complying with the committee’s request and urged her to submit the report by close of work on Friday, November 3, 2023.
The House’s resolution was made following a motion concerning the “Alleged mismanagement of COVID-19 intervention funds from 2020 to 2022.” This motion highlighted that the Federal Government had allocated substantial sums for various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) between 2020 and 2022.
During the debate on the motion, Hon. Nyampa Dauda Zakari underscored the National Assembly’s role in exposing corruption in the use of public funds and expressed concern about the lack of proper accountability for COVID-19 intervention funds.
Several lawmakers also lamented the mismanagement and diversion of funds meant to combat the pandemic for other purposes, and they called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
