The
special audit conducted on the activities of the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) has revealed that N183.7 billion could not be accounted for
between 2008 and 2012.
The
Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Samuel Ukura, spoke with reporters yesterday
after submitting three report to the National Assembly.
Ukura
added that his office submitted the environmental audit on the drying up of
Lake Chad and special periodic checks on the activities and programmes of the
NDDC.
He
said a lot of discrepancies were noticed in the NDDC accounts with about N183.7
billion expected to be refunded to the federation account.
A
breakdown of what the NDDC will return to the Federation Account, Ukura said,
includes the N70.4 billion unaccounted for from the mobilisation of various
contractors that never reported to site; the N5.8 billion paid to contractors
for projects not executed or abandoned; N90.5 billion spent on extra budgetary
expenditure without approval by legal authorities; N1.2 billion undeducted
taxes from contractors; N10.07 billion to be refunded as tax deductions made
without evidence of remittance to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS);
N3.1 billion transferred to unauthorised accounts and unaccountable staff
advances of N1.7 billion.
Ukura
said: “It is our belief that all the money spent by government, if it was
properly spent in the region, Niger Delta would be a better place.”
He
added that N785 million of N1.1 billion allegedly paid to contracts for the
supply of furniture to various schools in Delta State was also unaccounted for.
The
Auditor-General noted that additional details of their findings are contained
in the report he submitted to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Salisu
Maikasuwa.
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