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Office
operating on temporary files, fake documents …
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Staff
claim estacodes of oversea, local trips not embarked on
The Debt
Management Office, DMO is currently enmeshed in corruption scandal
Money
amounting to N1.08 billion is alleged to be lost from 2017 till date, thereby
raising corruption cases the country is battling. It was learnt that the
large-scale financial wrongdoings in the office would likely draw the attention
of anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The
corruption is allegedly being perpetrated through various means ranging from
awards of contracts, operating on temporary files, unauthorized overseas trips,
organization of fictitious events, production of fake transport receipts and
destruction of official documents.
Chronicle
of frauds In December, 2017, the office requested the then Minister of Finance,
Kemi Adeosun to approve the sum of N90 million to cover travel expenses to
states for eight DMO Staff to carry out reconciliation of the Paris Club
Refunds.
Adeosun
approved N60 million for the exercise.
The money was released to the DMO via AIE No.
CMD/SW/REC/008/2018 dated 12th January, 2018 but the members of staff nicknamed
‘the Task Force’, we gathered, never travelled to any states.
They rather worked in-house to conclude the
assignment, using the records already in the possession of the DMO.
It was gathered that the money was
subsequently withdrawn in tranches, brought to the office and distributed to
the staff contrary to extant regulations
The first
tranche of the money, it was learnt, was N4.8 million, the 2nd, 3rd & 4th tranches
were released in the sum of N20 million each and N15.2 million respectively
totaling N60 million.
It was gathered that the eight staff of DMO
who did the work were only given about N2,500,000 each on the average, making a
total of about N20 million with the balance of N40 million allegedly diverted.
Incidentally,
the money which was an advance payment from the Ministry of Finance to DMO has
not been retired till date.
Litany of fake events, trips totaling N130m
In November, 2019, the office also approved
money to be paid for events which included sensitization workshops on “various
products recently introduced” by DMO in four commercial cities of Ibadan,
Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Owerri.
The
events and trips, for which a total of N130 million was expended, it was
gathered, never existed or took place. N401.3million paid on contract
splitting, media consultancy, using temporary file (T1- T1 million)
Between
2018 and June, 2020, the office had approved the payment of about
N401,348,818.00 for an unknown media consultancy firm believed to be fake
without due process.
Contracts were said to have been split and
awarded to the vendor on monthly basis for each project, exceeding the monetary
thresholds of the office, depending on the nature of the project.
By the act establishing the office, the DMO’s
approval power, it was learnt, is not expected to cross the threshold of N2.5m
million.
Figures
outside this amount pass through the DMO’s tenders board to be discussed by
other accounting officers who will determine the viability and the propriety or
otherwise of the project.
Where it exceeds the approval powers of the
boards, it is then taken to the ministerial tenders board for approval and or
the Federal Executive Council, FEC as the case may be. This, however was done
without an active file to establish the history of the transactions but in a
Temporary File (T-File) ranging from T1 to T1million.
It was
gathered that payments were however made. Interestingly, in a transaction of
N10 million for instance, the invoice would be broken into smaller amounts and
paid to the same vendor on the same date and on the same project in a bid to
make them fall within the office threshold.
Reckless
approval of projects totaling N350 million above threshold
There is also an approval for projects whose
amounts were beyond the power of the office.
These
projects which the aggregate is estimated to the tune of over N350 million were
supposed to pass through the DMO’s tenders board or Ministerial tenders board.
But that
was not the case as due process was not adhered to, an offence which
contravenes Section 17 (ai-ii) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and Section
2906 and 2916 of the Financial Regulations and other relevant sections of the
Act and extant laws.
False
claims of funds with fake receipts for events totaling about N29.9 million
The
office also operates on fake receipts and invoices in the guise of weekend work
refreshment and other activities.
It was
alleged that so far, claims of funds amounting to N29,929,900 had been made.
Approval
and receipt of estacode for N56m unauthorized foreign trips Similarly, the
office enriches itself with payments of estacode and air tickets for foreign
trips totaling about N56 million without the approval of relevant authorities
as required by extant circular HSCF/CSO/HRM/POL. 1402/1 of 2015 and 2016.
Collection of N3 million duty tour allowance for trips never embarked upon
The office also has the penchant of collecting
money for trips not embarked upon and such refunds were not being paid back to
the treasury.
Payment
of N50 million Business class flights for trips Contrary to the circular No.
SGF/OP/1/S.3/1753 of November 2016 of the Federal Government, members of the
top management team used business class tickets for foreign trips for which
about N50million may have been expended even on trips not approved by the
ministry of finance.
Suppression,
falsification and destruction of official records On September 12, 2019, there
was a request by a top official for the approval of the Minister of Finance,
Budget & National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed to embark on a trip to the
United States for the 2019 Annual Meeting of the World Bank Group and the
International Monetary Fund in Washington DC scheduled to hold from October 14
– 20, 2019 at Washington DC.
A Travel
File with No. DMO/DG/042/725 was sent to the Finance & Account Unit of DMO
for payment with no approval of the minister for payment.
The
payment was however not processed owing to the intervention and query of the
Internal Audit & Control Unit which stopped the payment.
The file
with the query of the Internal Audit Unit was later to disappear. However it
later resurfaced for payment of the same trip, same amount, same date and venue
with a new File No. DMO/DG/005/T2 where an approval for travel was purported to
have been directed by the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning.
Inflation of FG’s floatation cost budget
This
paper learnt that there had been requests for funds not needed into the Federal
Government of Nigeria, FGN Bond floatation Cost Account, thereby increasing the
cost of issuance of Bonds and by extension increasing the total debt burden and
debt stock in a bid to siphon the funds. But this has always met the resistance
of some department of the Office.
For
instance, in 2018, the office closed Account with a balance of about N2.68
billion and in 2019, without minding the huge balance, it also requested for
extra funds without refunding the balance of that of 2018 leading to a huge
balance of about N4.3billion at the close of 2019 Account.
Following
the excess money in the account, the Office went on expenditure spree. For
example, a certain communication outfit was paid the sum of N22 million through
a Department called Market Development Department but was stopped by Internal
Audit & Control.
The infractions, as gathered had set the
management on a collusion course and affected the efficiency of the Debt
Management Office which may be inimical to the overall agenda of the President
Buhari led government.
