The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and the Auditor General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine over the usage of $36.1 million World Bank multilateral loan to Nigeria.
The Wole Oke led Committee on Public Accounts issued the summon on Thursday after an investigative hearing with the Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze on why the Office of Auditor General of the Federation was grossly underfunded.
Oke stressed the need for officials of the Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to give clear details on the essence of procuring the loan from the world bank aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline in affairs of governance of the country.
He directed the Office of Auditor General of the Federation to forward a comprehensive submission on their participation in the loan, details on the processes involved in the hiring consultants, personnel so far deployed with monies collected under the loan facility.
Oke wondered why the Office of Auditor General of the Federation charged with the statutory duty of blocking wastages was being starved of funds even when agencies of government created by subsidiary legislation with redundant staff receive more budgetary allocations.
According to him, this was at variance with the ongoing anti-graft war being waged by the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration.
Akabueze while testifying disclosed that the sum of $200,000 had already been disbursed to the Office of Auditor General of the Federation of the $36.1 million World Bank-funded fiscal governance project and $1.5 Million technical assistance,
He said the World Bank multilateral loan deal negotiated in 2018 had already been captured in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) template of the 2021 budget, adding that the Office of Auditor General of the Federation could access $9 million yearly if it meets the requirements.
Akabueze disputed the notion that the loan would be utilised by the Office of Auditor General of the Federation to pay salaries and allowances of workers since that is the responsibility of the federal government.
He however admitted that the Office of Auditor General of the Federation could use monies from the loan to procure computers and sophisticated software required to enhance the capacity of its workers.
