Categorically affirming that the INFERNO at the magnificent office
complex of the Accountant General of the Federation known as treasury
house is suspicious and scary and may not be unconnected to serial
accusations of financial irregularities as made by the National Assembly
and a cross section of NIGERIANS including the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU), the nation’s most prominent Civil Rights Advocacy
group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has asked
Nigerians to demand foreinsic investigations by independent criminal
forensic scientists to ascertain the real motives or otherwise behind
the sudden fire incident barely 24 hours after the Senate made a
startling discovery of alleged monumental heist of the Schools feeding
programmes of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel
Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf said
that Nigerians should not accept any Cock -and- bull stories but must
insists that the Nigerian Government comes clean on how it has been
unable to transparently render accounts of revenues generated from
internal and external sources just as HURIWA alleged that there were too
many things wrong with the administration of public finance by a set of
federal government officials who publishes claims in the media claiming
that the Nigerian Customs Service and the Federal Inland Revenue
Services generated multibillion revenues since the year 2015 but only
for the Finance minister to be going cap -in- hand perpetually begging
for foreign loans from all conceivable sovereign entities. Something is
not adding up. This is why this sudden fire incident at the office of
the Accountant General of the Federation that has happened barely few
hours after serious suspicions of misuse of public fund running into
billions was raised by the usually pliant and docile National Assembly”.
HURIWA stated that the fire incident was too coincidental and has
happened at a time of mounting accusations of frauds and failures by the
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to account for how multi-billions fund it budgeted
and released for the payment of N20,000 palliative to poor Nigerians to
cushion the effects and economic adversities created by the lockdown
that was occasioned by the CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IN NIGERIA and across
the World were dispensed. The Rights group stated also that there is
every need for a transparent and an open process of investigations to be
activated to unravel the remote and immediate circumstances behind the
fire incident at the office of the Accountant General of the Federation
in Abuja given that it was not more than two weeks that the Senate
reportedly indicted the Accountant General of the Federation for failing
to provide documentary evidence on the implementation of the
controversial new payment scheme known as INTEGRATED PAYROLL AND
PERSONNEL INFORMATION (IPPIS).
Besides, HURIWA wants the National Assembly to go beyond the mere
dramatization of the accusations of monumental heist by some officials
in the Presidency responsible for the School Feeding Programme in which
a whopping amount of N12 billion is spent monthly without the
observation and absolute adherence to the time tested and time honoured
provisions of the nationally binding law of the procurement mechanisms
as provided by the Procurement Act of the Federation just as HURIWA
carpeted the National Assembly leadership for failing to insists on
getting the names of the consultant that collects N100 million mothly
from the failed school feeding programmes of the federation mired in a
slew of financial malfeasance for long. “The oversight functions of the
National Assembly is not to be used to stage media drama to buy
accolades from the people of Nigeria. The Constitution empowers the
Narional Assembly to unravel dubious activities around the spending of
public resources, name, shame and recommend for prosecution by the
relevant anti corruption bodies. Nobody in government must be treated as
a sacred cow. When the legislative powers of the Federation is turned
into a joke then the essence of constitutional democracy is miserably
abused”.
” HURIWA strongly believes that the Fire which on Wednesday gutted the
Treasury House which is the office of the Accountant General of the
Federation in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja is too suspicious to
be dismissed as a mere accident or happenstance. This incident as is
notorious in Nigeria that public officials are known to always set their
offices ablaze in a bid to cover up their tracks. This time around there
are series of questions being asked by all and sundry on how over N60
billion or so was reportedly blown away by the federal government in the
guise of implementing conditional cash transfer to some ghosts and some
political nitwitts rather than to the millions of poor Nigerians all
across board. How did these cash got shared and frittered away in few
hours? To whom did these humonguous cash get to and where are their
records since the National Assembly only Yesterday raised alarm and 24
hours later there was fire at the office of the Accountant General of
the Federation? We are not accusing anyone of theft. We have not called
any officer of the federal government a thieg but certainly we smelt a
rat. But what we know is that this fire is too suspicious to be
dismissed as a mere accident or happenstance. We must get to the roots
of this scam. As learnt it was gathered that the fire started from
around the third floor, razing the building upwards including the
Accountant General’s office and most of the important offices.”
“HURIWA recalled that around February 18th of this Year the Senate’s
Public Accounts Committee adjourned abruptly following the inability of
the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to give details
of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.IPPIS is an
Information Communications Technology project initiated by the Federal
Government of Nigeria to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of
payroll administration for its Ministries, Departments and Agencies but
has faced a series of opposition and accusations of frauds.
HURIWA recalled that the Accountant General was not available to answer
an audit query raised against his office but his representative, who is
a director in his office, Adiro Emmanuel, was unable to answer questions
asked him by members of the Senate panel.The senators expressed anger
over the director’s inability to provide necessary documents pertaining
to the IPPIS account put at N2.9bn. Unhappy that they could not achieve
much with the probe, members of the Senate panel called for immediate
adjournment of proceedings.The Chairman of the panel, Senator Mathew
Urhoghide, adjourned the session and gave the Accountant General, two
weeks to tidy his documents and make himself available to the panel.The
Accountant General was also unable to provide satisfactory response to
why Nigeria’s share of funds dropped drastically from N200bn to N165bn
in 2015.
On the query concerning the N596bn Ecological Fund and why the fund was
not invested to yield more money for Nigeria, the Accountant General’s
explanation that it was against CBN policy to do so wasn’t satisfactory
to the lawmakers.”
“HURIWA smells a rat in this reported inferno at the office of the
Accountant General of the Federation and we strongly condemn all these
shameful acts of something that appears to be an attempt to cover up so
many cases of miapplicarion of public fund. This is not how to
administer the commonwealth of our Countrt. The earlier we fish out bad
eggs and punish them the better gor all us. Allegations of monumental
fraud perpetrated at the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) reportedly
created a lot of indignation amongst the leadership of the National
Assembly even as the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, made their
reservations at a meeting with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs,
Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq and
some top officials of the ministry in Abuja.”
HURIWA asked Nigerians to meticulously note that the two presiding
National Assembly officers called for the immediate suspension of the
register used for the scheme when informed by officials that accompanied
the minister to the gathering that some N12 billion was being paid
monthly for the school feeding programme without verification. “This
call was made only Yesterday and now the fire. Who is fooling who?”
“HURIWA as well as millions of Nigerians have been reliably told that
another issue that provoked the Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Speaker
of the House of Representatives Mr. Femi Gbajbabiamila was the N100
million monthly payment to an unnamed consultant that purportedly
handles some aspects of the project.”
HURIWA continued thus: ” Nigerians are invited to note that the
Humanitarian Affairs minister Hajia Farouq reportedly informed the
National Assembly leaders that she inherited the “mess.”
“HURIWA is worried that the National Assembly failed to dig further
with a view to ascertaining how these huge cash was spent following the
disclosure that the minister was said to have told the lawmakers that
she does not understand why the school feeding project was adopted for
COVID-19, adding that “even other programmes have so many inadequacies
that her ministry is still trying to unravel. HURIWA seriously think the
fire incident at the office of the Accountant General of the Federation
has the signature of something senister and suspicious given that even
the minister of Humanitarian Affairs admitted that there were
inadequacies in the administration of the huge fund meant for the School
Feeding programme”.