Onu, HoSF to appear before Reps over agencies’ unaudited accounts

By Tony Akowe, Abuja

The House of Representatives has summoned the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, to explain why the accounts of the Natural Medicine Development Agency were unaudited for nine years.

She is to appear before the House Committee on Public Accounts alongside the Minister and the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.

The committee Chairman Oluwole Oke issued the directive at the current investigative hearing into the “reckless refusal” by non-treasury and partially funded agencies to render their audited accounts between 20011 and 2019.

The lawmakers expressed displeasure over the failure of the agency’s management to account for multi-billion naira appropriated for it for nine years.

It was learnt that the agency was allocated N377,931,365 in 2016 out of which N255,222,949 was for recurrent while N122,708,417 was for capital expenditure.

In 2018, the agency got N1.105 billion out of which N246,234,918 was for personnel, N56,176,596 was for overhead, N302,411,514 was for recurrent while N802,710,432 was for capital expenditure.

The Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAGF) told the committee that the agency submitted only the 2013 audited account while the accounts for 2014 to 2019 are still outstanding.

The House Committee regretted the development, describing it as gross misconduct.

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Expressing disappointment over the lackadaisical attitude of the accounting officers in obeying extant financial rules and regulations, Oke said the director in charge of Finance at the agency should “come with his employer – the Minister of Science and Technology and the Permanent Secretary as well as the HoSF.

“Let them come and hear the story themselves. You have budgetary allocation but you didn’t render account,” he said.

Also, the committee resolved to conduct status of inquiry into the finances of Radiographers Registration Council of Nigeria for failing to render accounts to the OAGF between 2015 and 2019.