With the attempted diversion of unspent surplus personnel funds totalling N189 billion by MDAs before the intervention of ICPC, pilfering of government funds by by officials had remained a major feast. Abdulwahab Isa reports
It has been established through research works that corruption, the absence of transparency in the public sector, accounts for over 80 per cent of leaks in government finances.
This indisputable assertion validates the position of government institutions saddled with the responsibility of holding ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) and their officers to account for their stewardships.
Government agencies with a mandate of sanitising the public service sector space of corruption/ sleaze include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
Of these lots, three are key and fundamental to corruption prevention. They are EFFC, ICPC, and CCB. In spite of painstaking devotion to preventing and prosecuting corruption, the public sector space is still trapped in deepening corruption. MDAs routinely fail both transparency integrity tests by anticorruption bodies.
Audit exposures
The Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF) is an institution of government. It has the mandate of auditing the financial books of MDAs.
Auditing of MDAs by AuGF is a yearly exercise. Reports show most of the MDAs’ uncooperative approach to this exercise by not submitting their accounts to AuGF for vetting and audit, thus making this exercise a herculean task for the AuGF.
Every AuGF’s audit report submitted to the National Assembly reeks of stunning disclosures. For instance, the 2020 audit report the AuGF submitted to the National Assembly indicted about 256 ministries, departments, and agencies of the Federal Government.
They erred by violating extant laws. They spent billions of naira that were not appropriated in 2020. Indicted MDAs included the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, the Air Force Institute of Technology, among others.
They were indicted for engaging in extrabudgetary expenditure amounting to N284 billion in 2020. Contravention of the law was established against them.
Section 80 (2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended states that “no moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an appropriation Act, supplementary appropriation Act, or an Act passed in pursuance of section 81 of this Constitution”.
Also, Section 80(3) states that ”no money shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Act of the National Assembly”.
The report stated that a total of N361 billion was spent by the affected MDAs against the N76 billion in the 2020 Appropriation Act.
The OAuGF added that the MDAs did not disclose the sources of the extra spending and did not provide the evidence of supplementary appropriation or approved virement provided.
The said 18 MDAs incurred an overhead expenditure of N129 billion that was not supported by budgetary provision as required by the constitution, but the accountant-general, in a management response contained in the report, said the MDAs involved are “mostly those that had waivers to spend a percentage of their revenue to sustain themselves.”.
The report said that 34 MDAs reported zero overhead expenditure despite having a total budget of N6.9 billion, noting that “no additional information was disclosed to enable users to understand how the MDAs operated without overhead costs”.
The AuGF report revealed that N7 billion was budgeted for employees’ benefits, but a total of N335 billion was spent. It also said that the sum of N14 billion was spent on subsidies without budgetary provisions.
The report said that 72 MDAs exceeded their employee benefits budget by N328 billion, saying, “The total expenditures of the 72 MDAs were N335 billion, while the total budget was N87 billion.”
The auditor-general also reported that 106 MDAs exceeded their personnel costs budget by N78 billion, noting that “the total expenditures of the 106 MDAs were N882 billion while the total budget was N804 billion.
Funds diversion across MDAs
With the effort of corruption agencies (EFFC and ICPC), various funds diverted across MDAs were exposed. At a recent unveiling of a report by AGORA policy and its partners in Abuja, a report detailing corruption and sleaze across the public sector, it unearthed the impunity with which government establishments funneled funds from coffers.
Quoting an ICPC report, the Agora 2023 report indicated the ICPC thwarted an attempt by MDAs to divert N189 billion in unspent personnel costs. Agora policy said the attempted diversion happened between 2019 and 2020.
The blocked amount was equivalent to 8.25 per cent of the N2.29 trillion aggregate budget for personnel costs in 2019.
According to the Agora Policy report titled “Imperative of Strengthening Nigeria’s Transparency and Accountability Measures,” through the monitoring of the open treasury portal, the ICPC succeeded in blocking the diversion of N189 billion unspent surplus in personnel costs across the ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) between 2019 and 2020.
The Open Treasury Portal was inaugurated in December 2019 to ensure transparency in government spending by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who directed all MDAs to compulsorily publish on the portal daily summary statements of financial records above N5 million.
The portal also requires monthly updates from the Accountant General of the Federation and MDAs on their respective monthly budget performance reports and all economic activities of the agencies within seven days of the end of each month.
The blocked money, the report said, came about through budget manipulation by government officials that normally resulted in MDAs receiving allocations and releases beyond their actual needs. For instance, personnel costs stood at N1.6
With no end in sight to the pilfering and diversion of public funds by MDAs officials, it’s incumbent on the various anti-graft agencies to rejig their tactics of tackling corruption in the public sector
trillion in 2016, rising to N2.90 trillion in 2017 (an increase of N1.21 trillion) or 71.60 per cent.
However, the Agora Policy report stated that despite the modest gains, the Open Treasury Portal was beset with implementation challenges, adding that not all required information is constantly uploaded and updated.
“The policy is, however, beset with implementation challenges. While it is a policy declared by the federal government and the key units of government as responsible for providing the needed information, a visit to the portal reveals that not all required information is constantly uploaded and updated.
“For instance, not all MDAs have their daily financial records summary on the portal,” the report said, adding that from the existing data gaps, although the policy had been declared and the MDAs are aware of the guidelines for keeping the portal active, updated, and accessible, it still contends with a combination of factors.
“These factors include non-compliance by the officials whose duty it is to compile the information, technical challenges arising from limitations of equipment and facilities, and outright sabotage.
There are some commendations despite these ills,” the report stated. The report looks at 16 different accountability measures in Nigeria is within four clusters, which include norms and values, open discourse, public financial management, and sanctions and enforcements.
To frontally tackle corruption and enforce accountability in the public sector, the report suggests, among other things, an enactment of legislation for the protection of whistleblowers and to grant public access to assets declared.
It called for the strengthening of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation with new audit law; improve budgetary provisions for enforcement agencies and hold them accountable, in addition to conducting rigorous background checks on the boards, leadership, and staff of MDAs.
Other key recommendations to tackle corruption outlined in the report are deepening collaboration across tiers and arms of government to ensure a more coordinated approach to fighting corruption.
It suggests the launch of a comprehensive national value reorientation campaign, anchored on evidence and behavioral insights and the adoption of an all-of-society approach, ensuring a united and coordinated front against corruption by government, civil society, citizens, and development partners.
Tactics rejigged
While some levels of achievements have been recorded by ICPC, EFFC, and CCB in their collective efforts to rein in corruption and enforce accountability across MDAs, there are still gaps.
It calls for adapting new tactics that are potent and effective. Invited speakers at the recently launched Agora policy report alluded to this.
Professor Prof. Adele Jinadu, a renowned anti-graft crusader, was blunt in his submission. He called for a holistic approach by the anti-graft agencies.
A keynote speaker at the launch, his speech entitled “State of Anti-Corruption Policy and Practice in Nigeria: A Political Scientist Approach, “Prof. Jinadu denounced festering corruption in public sector space in the country.
He noted that corruption could not be addressed by adopting a ‘watch night man’ approach. Anything short of a holistic approach, Jinadu insists it would amount to a waste of time.
“In spite of all the efforts placed on fighting corruption and constitutional reform, we can’t get anywhere. We are dealing with the toxic environment of our lifetime.
We are building in vain. No matter what we do, corruption is about morality. Our political leaders are doing the opposite of what the laws say. Unless character and integrity come into our politics, we will go nowhere, “Professor Jinadu said.
He enjoined political actors and those in the position of authority to be accountable. “The “duty and responsibility of all organs of government, and of all authorities and persons exercising legislative, executive, or judicial powers,” to citizens as provided under Nigeria’s Constitution; and the role of the following independent democracy-promoting commissions to monitor and ensure compliance with political and related accountability provisions of the country.
“To EFCC, Human Rights Commission, ICPC, INEC; Code of Conduct Bureau; and the Public Complaints Commission. The message of this keynote is that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Let the sentinels on the watchtower sleep not and slumber not.
Nurturing such night watchman civic virtue is an indispensable and durable guardrail against the political culture of impunity of our elective public political officeholders,” he said.
The World Bank harped on inaccurate data as a major dilemma thwarting credible data information on government finances.
The Bank Country Director, Ndiamé Diop, noted, “We talk about transparency, but in order to have transparent reports, you need to have the data, and that data needs to be accurate and reliable.”
“And right now the data system requires all kinds of manual processes that allow for leakages that have long affected the system,” he said. The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, represented by Mrs. Adejoke Liman, Director of Policy and Research Department, said corruption was a huge enterprise in Nigeria, with the theft of public resources across all levels of government.
“A number of issues have encumbered the fight against corruption, many of which are known to this distinguished audience.
They include public cynicism, which is a major morale dampener for anti-graft officials; security of tenure of anti-corruption agency heads with implication for the independence of the agencies; challenges in prosecution of high-profile corruption cases; non-sustenance of accountability reforms in the public sector, and more.
“We are not likely to make the kind of impact envisaged until these challenges are addressed. We must also examine the ease with which public officers are able to siphon humongous sums from the public till without any warning systems.
Over the years we have focused on borrowing best practices from other nations, but real solutions to our corruption problem lie in adapting measures drawn from our unique experiences.
The kind of introspection that today’s forum engenders should propel us in Identifying gaps that need urgent closure for effective recalibration of the anti-corruption framework for greater efficiency,” he said.
Olukoyede said the anti-graft commission had taken a conscious decision to use the fight against corruption to stimulate the economy and support critical social investment initiatives.”
As some of you may be aware, Funds recovered by the Commission are part of the resources deployed by the federal government in financing the students and consumer credit schemes.
Both schemes have the potential to reduce the penchant for criminality by vulnerable segments of the population,” he said.
Last line
With no end in sight to the pilfering and diversion of public funds by MDAs officials, it’s incumbent on the various anti-graft agencies to rejig their tactics of tackling corruption in the public sector.
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