The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AGF

  • Dasuki: FG seeks court’s understanding

    Dasuki: FG seeks court’s understanding

    The Federal Government Monday sought the understanding of the Federal High Court, Abuja in its handling of the case involving former National Security Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Dasuki.

    The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) and Solicitor General of the Federation, Taiwo Abidogun asked the court for more time to familiarise themselves with the case.

    Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja had, last Friday, invited the AGF to appear before his court Monday in relation to the controversy surrounding the Dasuki case.

    The judge’s invitation to the AGF was informed by complaint by Dasuki’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN) that, despite the order made by the court on November 3, allowing Dasuki to travel abroad, he was being prevented from embarking on the trip by security agents, who have allegedly laid siege on his Abuja home.

    Abidogun, who was accompanied to the court by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Muhammad Diri, told the court that he and the AGF were just appointed and were yet to be fully briefed about the activities of the Federal Ministry of Justice, particularly in relation to the Dasuki case.

    Abidogun sought for time to enable him and the AGF study the case and decide on what necessary steps to take.

    “I have sought the understanding of the other party, who have given its consent to my overture. We have tremendous respect for this court and your lordship. We are seeking an adjournment to enable us to be briefed properly,” the Solicitor General said.

    He sought an adjournment for Monday next week on the ground that the AGF will formally resume duties in the ministry on Wednesday.

    Daudu did not object to Abidogun’s application for adjournment.

    He only reminded that court that its November 3 order was yet to be executed owing, purportedly to the activities of operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

  • Dasuki: Court invites AGF 

    Dasuki: Court invites AGF 

    A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday invited the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN)  for clarification over the inability of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Dasuki, to travel abroad on health ground.

    The court’s invitation to the AGF was informed by  a  complaint by Dasuki’s lawyer, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN) that the former NSA was prevented from embarking on the trip by security agents  despite the order made by the court on November 3 giving him the nod to travel.

    Besides, Daudu said, security agents laid siege to Dasuki’s Abuja home.

    The lawyer from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Labaran Magaji, denied Daudu’s claim that the state had prevented his client from travelling abroad as ordered by the court.

    Justice Adeniyi Ademola expressed concern about Daudu’s complaint  and that  since the AGF is new in office he should  be invited to  brief the court  on the issue.

    ”Having perused the processes filed by the applicant, particularly the motion on notice dated 9th November 2015 and the respondent’s counter processes, it is important that the Attorney General of the Federation, being the chief law officer of the country, comes to court to be briefed about the issue,” the judge said.

    Justice Ademola noted that from the fresh motion on notice and counter affidavit filed by parties in the case, he was not happy about the scenario that was playing out. He said he was uncomfortable that the court’s subsisting order was reportedly not obeyed.

    He adjourned to November 16 for hearing of the new motion and counter-motions filed by parties.

    Dasuki is seeking, among others, an order compelling the federal government and its agents, especially operatives of the DSS, to immediately vacate his premises on 13, John Kadija Street, Asokoro, Abuja.

    The ex-NSA, in his motion, claimed that men of the DSS have constituted a  threat to his life and that he was  prevented from travelling abroad to attend to his ailing health pursuant to an earlier order contained in a ruling by Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

    He stated that the judge had, by his order made on November 3, ordered the release of his travel documents to enable him attend to his pressing health needs abroad.

    Dasuki  also wants the court to order the removal of “all human and non-human barricades, bulwarks and or siege laid around, about and across” his residence at No. 13, John Kadiya Street, Asokoro District, Abuja.

    He  prays for an extension the court’s order made on November 3, to make up for the delay caused by the siege to his house.

    Dasuki equally wants the court to dispense with his appearance from court during the hearing of the application.

    In a supporting affidavit, the ex-NSA stated that “by the act and overt aggression of the complainant/privies, the security and life of the defendant/applicant is being constantly threatened.”

  • Dasuki: Court invites AGF 

    Dasuki: Court invites AGF 

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday invited the Attorney -General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), over the inability of former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), to travel abroad on health ground.

    The court’s invitation to the AGF followed complaint by Dasuki’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN), that despite the order made by the court on November 3, allowing Dasuki to travel abroad, he was being prevented from embarking on the trip by security agents, who allegedly laid siege on his Abuja home.

    A lawyer from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Labaran Magaji, denied Daudu’s claim that the state had prevented his client from travelling abroad as ordered by the court.

    Ruling, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who expressed concern about Daudu’s complaint that officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) have frustrated the execution of the November 4 order, said since the AGF is new in office  it is necessary to invite him for briefing on issues surrounding the case.

    “Having perused the processes filed by the applicant, particularly the motion on notice dated 9th November 2015 and the respondent’s counter processes, it is important that the Attorney General of the Federation, being the chief law officer of the country, comes to court for briefing about the issue,” the judge said.

    Justice Ademola noted that from the fresh motion on notice and counter affidavit filed by parties in the case, he was not happy about the scenario playing out.

    The judge said he was uncomfortable that the court’s subsisting order was reportedly not obeyed.

    He adjourned to November 16 for hearing of the new motion and counter-motions filed by parties.

     

     

  • AGF, NDLEA urge court to dismiss Kashamu’s suit

    AGF, NDLEA urge court to dismiss Kashamu’s suit

    The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss a fundamental rights suit by Senator Buruji Kashamu.

    Justice Ibrahim Buba, who had refused to disqualify himself from the case after being accused of likely bias by NDLEA, adjourned till November 18 for judgment.

    Kashamu is praying the court to restrain the Federal Government from seizing his property for alleged drug trafficking.

    He sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining NDLEA and the AGF from taking possession of his belongings.

    Arguing the application yesterday, the senator’s lawyer, Ajibola Oluyede, said Kashamu had been exonerated from charges of heroine importation into the United States of America.

    He said two United Kingdom courts also held that Kashamu had no case to answer, and that one of the courts held that he was mistaken for another person.

    Oluyede said it was on the basis of the same dismissed charges that the Federal Government made moves to seize his client’s property.

    He said: “The Federal High Court nullified the warrant of arrest. The respondents are still making moves to seize his property over the same issues over which he has been exonerated and for which the orders were made.

    “This action is not pursuing a right in property. It is seeking to protect the right to own property. We urge your Lordship to grant this application.”

    But counsel to the AGF, Oyin Koleoso, urged the court to dismiss the suit because Kashamu had no evidence to back his claims.

    He said: “Of all the property the applicant listed, there is nothing to link them with the applicant. No title documents. I urge the court to dismiss the application.”

    Kashamu said he learnt of moves by NDLEA and AGF to seize his property, including a 24-flat housing estate at Egbe, Lagos and hectares on Lekki Peninsula, Lagos.

    According to him, he acquired the property, which he said were worth N20billion, by dint of hard work and through his legitimate business.

    He said contrary to NDLEA’s alleged claim, the property were not proceeds of drug trafficking.

    Kashamu said right to own property as guaranteed by sections 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution would be breached if the respondents were not restrained.

  • 2015 budget probe: Reps blast perm sec, AGF, Budget Office for presenting vague documents

    2015 budget probe: Reps blast perm sec, AGF, Budget Office for presenting vague documents

    The House of Representatives has expressed reservations over the capacity of the Ministry of Finance to effectively drive the Nigerian economy.

    The position of the lawmakers was informed by the discrepancies discovered in documents presented to an ad hoc committee of the House investigating the implementation of the capital component of this year’s budget.

    The public hearing that was postponed twice due to the non-appearance of the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Anastasia Daniel-Nwaobia however got underway yesterday despite her absence.

    She was said to be on the entourage of President Muhammadu Buhari to France.

    Agencies at the hearing  included the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Budget Office of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the Fiscal Responsibility Commission  (FRC) and National Planning Commission (NPC) among others.

    Trouble began after the presentation of the submission  of Ministry of Finance by the representative of the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Aliyu Gusau who is the Director-General, Budget Office.

    He said the document was too ‘sketchy’ to be of any value to the committee in its findings.

    The Permanent Secretary,  in her presentation  said N3.45trillion was budgeted for this year, adding that out of this sum, capital appropriation was N5579billion.

    “Of the amount, N194.492billion has been released as at September 15th representing 34.89 per cent of total releases.

    “Of the N375.62billion budgeted for Statutory tranfer, N187billion, has been released as at quarter two and N250.41billion as at August 2015.

    “Of N231.41billion pensions budget, N149.92billion has been released as a at end of August 2015.

    “Public debt to GDP ratio as at 2013 was 10.82 per cent, and N882.122billion appropriated for both domestic and external borrowing has been fully raised to finance the 2015 budget.

    “External debt as at June 30th 2015 stood at $7.74billion and $3.42billion for states and the FCT; bringing it to the total amount to $10.31billion while Federal Government’s internal debt stood at $8.396billion”.

    Reacting to the presentation, the Committee said the document was lacking in depth, while particular concern was raised over figures in the submission of some  invited  agencies that were contradictory thereby casting doubt about the integrity of the various  presentations.

    Chairman of the ad hoc committee, Ahman Pategi said the sketchy nature of the presentation failed to give the true position of the implementation of the 2015 capital budget.

    He noted that the presentation was silent on revenue accruals from oil while there was a need to know  shortfall from January to August.

    Besides, he cited the shortfall recorded in non-oil revenue as contained in the document but   was short on explanations on  month-by month details.

    He also said  the presenation was vague on the nation’s debt profile as it was silent on the position of each sectors of the economy and how the governemnt planned to liquidate it.

    The chairman was also concerned about the inadequate presentation of the most of the agencies that spanned January to June this year rather than from January to August this year.

    “My own of view of the presentation is that it is very sketchy and does not give a holistic view for full understanding of what the 2015 budget implementation is all about.

    “We had expected you to provide vivid insights into the regime of import duty waiver using explanatory notes to describe how what was done and why”, he said.

  • 2015 budget probe: Reps blast perm sec, AGF, Budget Office

    2015 budget probe: Reps blast perm sec, AGF, Budget Office

    The House of Representatives has expressed reservations at the capacity of the Federal Ministry of Finance to effectively drive the economy.

    Its position was informed by the discrepancies discovered in documents presented to its ad hoc committee investigating the implementation of the capital component of the 2015 budget.

    The public hearing, postponed twice due to the absence of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Anastasia Daniel-Nwaobia, however, got underway yesterday despite her absence.

    She was said to be on the entourage of President Muhammadu Buhari to France.

    Agencies at the hearing included the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Budget Office, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) and National Planning Commission (NPC), among others.

    Trouble began after the submission of the ministry by the representative of the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Aliyu Gusau, who is the director general, Budget Office.

    He said the document was too ‘sketchy’ to be of any value to the committee.

    The permanent secretary, in her presentation, said N3.45 trillion was budgeted for 2015 of which capital appropriation was N5579 billion.

    “Of the amount, N194.492 billion was released as at September 15, representing 34.89 per cent of total releases.

    “Of the N375.62 billion budgeted for statutory tranfer, N187 billion was released as at quarter two and N250.41 billion as at August 2015.

    “Of N231.41billion Pensions budget, N149.92 billion was released as at the end of August 2015.

    Public debt to GDP ratio as at 2013 was 10.82 per cent, and N882.122 billion appropriated for domestic and external borrowing was fully raised to finance the 2015 budget.

    “External debt as at June 30, 2015, stood at $7.74 billion and $3.42 billion for states and the FCT; bringing it to $10.31 billion while Federal Government’s internal debt stood at $8.396 billion”.

    Reacting to the presentation, the committee said the document lacked depth, while  figures in the submission of some invited agencies were contradictory.

    Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee Ahman Pategi said the sketchy nature of the permanent secretary’s presentation failed to give the true position of the implementation of the 2015 capital budget.

    He noted that the presentation was silent on revenue accruing from oil while there was a need to know the shortfall from January to August.

    Besides, he cited the shortfall recorded in non-oil revenue as contained in the document but  was short on explanations on month-by-month details.

    He also said the presentation was vague on the nation’s debt profile and silent on the position of each sectors of the economy and how the government planned to liquidate it.

    The chairman was also concerned about the inadequate presentation of most of the agencies, spanning January to June 2015, rather than from January to August 2015.

    “My own of view of the presentation is that it is sketchy and does not give a holistic view for full understanding of what the 2015 budget implementation is all about.

    “We had expected you to provide vivid insight into the regime of import duty waiver using explanatory notes to describe how what was done and why,” he said.

    Members of the communittee, including Linus Okorie and Wale Oke said documents presented by the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office and the OAGF lacked credibility.

    Okorie, who said he had no confidence in the documents, noted that they were incomplete and contradictory.

    To highlight the discrepancies in the documents presented by the Budget Office and the OAGF, Okorie observed a difference of N248 billion over projected revenue for 2015.

    He also pointed out another N146.8 billion difference in figures presented by the two agencies on debt servicing.

    According to the lawmaker, who asked for clarification on the nation’s debt profile, the documents showed that N148 billion was overpaid for debt servicing.

    In addition, Okorie pointed out the contradictions in the two documents concerning releases to the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P).

    Okorie said while one document showed that the entire N21 billion SURE-P budget was released, another said only N14 billion was released and utilised.

    On his part, Wale Oke, who later urged the Committee to adjourn the meeting for a week said the various documents failed show the capacity of the Federal government to implement the 2015 budget.

    The Committee wondered why the Federal government had to borrow to fund non capital expenditure in addition to using local instruments to service its debt.

    N882.1b has been fully borrowed and disbursed to the Consolidated Revenue Account to fund the 2015 budget deficit.

    According to the committee, it is against the Fiscal Responsibility Act to borrow to fund projects that were not contained in the capital component of the budget.

    The committee advised that an inter-ministerial group be constituted among the agencies to articulate the figures.

    According to the Chairman, the opportunity given to the agencies to reconcile the books was not for connivance but to aid the committee in its findings.

    The hearing was adjourned to next Tuesday.

     

  • TSA: AGF insists on tomorrow’s deadline for accounts’ closure

    TSA: AGF insists on tomorrow’s deadline for accounts’ closure

    The Accountant- General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, has said there is no going back on tomorrow’s deadline to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to close all Federal Government accounts with commercial banks.

    He said the directive is in line with the new Treasury Single Account( TSA).

    The directive was contained in a statement by the Deputy Director( Press) of the OAGF, Mrs. Kenechukwu Offie.

    The statement said: “The Office of Accountant- General of the Federation hereby reassures all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as the general public that the September 15, 2015 deadline for the closure of all accounts of Federal Government MDAs with the commercials banks is realistic, achievable and will not be shifted forward.

    “This is to correct speculations making rounds in some quarters of the media, that the deadline may not be feasible.

    [ad id=”403656″]“The Accountant-General of Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris emphasizes that Implementation Guidelines have been developed and will soon be made available to all interested parties and the general public.

    “The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, in line with its statutory mandate and directives by Mr. President on the TSA, will continue to provide all necessary information and technical support to all MDAs, Banks and the general public to ensure a smooth, seamless and transparent implementation of the TSA/e-Collection policy.”

    President Muhammadu Buhari had set a deadline of Tuesday, September 15 for full compliance with his directive that all revenue due to the Federal Government or any of its agencies must be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved.

    A circular to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, urged the MDAs to ensure strict compliance with the deadline to avoid sanctions.

    The circular said a number of MDAs were yet to comply with the August 7, 2015 circular, which conveyed President Buhari’s original directive on the payment of all Federal Government revenue into a Treasury Single Account.

  • N183.7 billion: NDDC faults AGF’s report

    N183.7 billion: NDDC faults AGF’s report

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) yesterday faulted the Auditor General of the Federation’s report which claimed that N183.7 billion could not be accounted for by the commission.

    The Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, told journalists in Abuja after submitting three special reports to the National Assembly that N183.7 billion could not be accounted for between 2008 and 2012 audit years.

    But NDCC’s  Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Dr. Henry Ogiri said the report by the AGF was premature and did not follow the ethical standards of accounting profession.

    Dr. Ogiri questioned the timeliness of the report and its motive, adding that the AGF was only playing to the anti corruption tune of President Muhammadu Buhari by releasing the report.

    He wondered why the AGF had to wait five years to audit the commission’s account, adding that the report, which covered 2008 – 2012, did not fall under the current management of the commission.

    Ogiri,who spoke on Focus Nigeria, a weekly programme on African Independent Television (AIT), described the queries in the report as ‘ridiculous,’ adding  that the commission will respond to the queries raised by the AGF’s report.

    He said: “The report did not conform with ethical practices in the accounting profession. It is premature because it has not gone through the process yet. For a report to be meaningful for whatever reason management or board or government will need to use, it must be specific, it must be measurable, it must be accurate, it must be reliable and it must be timely.

    “A five-year report will not be very reliable and accurate for making decisions in 2015. And so I believe strongly that the Auditor General’s report is out of tune with the ethical profession of accountancy discipline.

    “This is a 307 pages document with so many queries with some of them trivialities. But we are determined to respond to them to show that we are in good faith; we are managers indeed and we will take responsibility for explaining the records as far as the records are available.

    “Can we be able to say for certain about the allegation of extra budgetary allocation from which from his report they actually traced the projects done but that money were spent when budget has not been passed. He has reported that as part of the missing money, N90 billion. His argument in his report is that while these payments were made there was no budget.

    “Let me go to some of the other specifics from which clearly we have replied as well; the N70 billion. Now the auditor general has reported that N70 billion was diverted by that management, not our management. “We have a compendium of projects where advance payment guarantees (APGs) were applied. The total APG value covered by this report is in excess of N70 billion. Of that N70 billion, only N11.7 billion is the amount as at when we concluded our audit, our forensic investigation, from which monies have been paid to  the bank but the contractors are yet to mobilise to site. The N11.7 billion is not missing, it is in the bank. We held a meeting and involved our legal department to write to the contractors to refund the monies if they fail to mobilize to the site.

    “We have started the recovery the money. We have dedicated a special account in Heritage Bank on all recovery of APGs. We are not spending it. These are issues we met on ground. The issue of N70 billion pocketed or diverted or missing is completely out of place even though it was done by previous management. The N70 billion is not missing that I can say with all degree of certainty.

  • AGF: NDDC yet to reply to indictment

    AGF: NDDC yet to reply to indictment

    Weeks after the Auditor General of the Federation indicted the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) of not accounting for N183.7 billion the NDDC is yet to respond to the indictment.

    A statement released yesterday by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF) and signed by Ogunmosunle, O.A. for the auditor general stated that “at the time of this Press Release, the NDDC is yet to respond to the Special Periodic Checks.”

    The statement noted that “it took NDDC, 16 months to grant the Office permission to commence the periodic checks beginning from 9thDecember, 2011 to 6th May, 2013.  Similarly, it took another 16 months and several reminders to the NDDC with effect from the 24th of April, 2014 to 12th August, 2015 before the final report was submitted to the National Assembly.”

    The auditor general decried media reports alleged to be engineered by the NDDC “denying and casting aspersions on the Special Periodic Checks recently submitted to the National Assembly.”

    The Office of the Auditor General said it stands by its report and its contents despite “the negative sentiments occasioned by the NDDC’s condemnation of the Special Periodic Checks in various media calculated to demean the efficacy of the Constitutional mandate carried out by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.”

    The statement maintained that “the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation has a constitutional mandate to submit its Reports to the National Assembly and in doing so, due process are usually followed.”

    The NDDC was reminded that if it “is not satisfied with the contents of the Special Report it has the opportunity to defend itself before the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) of the National Assembly.”