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The Senate has uncovered extensive diversion of funds from the Service Wide Vote (SWV) account by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Matthew Urhoghide, revealed that hundreds of billions of naira were disbursed to certain agencies for salary shortfalls, despite already having budget allocations for such expenses.
The Service Wide Vote is intended for MDAs to address urgent needs or emergencies not adequately covered in the annual budget.
However, according to Urhoghide, many MDAs received disbursements without following the necessary procedure of making formal requests approved by the President.
Between 2017 and 2021, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation disbursed substantial amounts to these agencies without proper authorization.
Although specific agencies involved and the exact amount diverted were not mentioned in the report, it was noted that some MDAs received funds for projects already allocated in the budget.
The former Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, was identified as the source of some of the approvals for these illegal transactions.
Additionally, many MDAs failed to disclose transaction details related to the Service Wide Vote, which is in violation of the law governing the vote.
During the course of investigation, 207 federal government agencies were invited for questioning, but only 119 appeared before the committee.
Notable agencies that declined the committee’s invitations included the State House, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria Defence Academy, Federal Ministry of Health, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, National Examination Council (NECO), and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
In light of these findings, the committee proposed several recommendations to combat corruption in the public service.
One such recommendation is that capital supplementation from the Service Wide Vote should only be authorized by the President.
“Where the capital supplementation must be made from Service Wide Vote, only personal authorisation of the president as the approving authority shall suffice; MDAs must strictly ensure that funds received from Service Wide Vote are applied to the specific purpose of request and release and,” the report said.
It was also emphasized that MDAs must ensure funds received from the Service Wide Vote are utilized solely for the specified purposes as requested and released.
“Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Cash Management Department, Federal Ministry of Finance should rejig its record-keeping procedures to enhance efficient operations of the Federal Treasury House,” it added.