…Says Anenih, Senator have case to answer
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, October 23, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives on Wednesday said it will investigate the financial transactions of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), especially the ones concerning various Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA).
Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Adeola Solomon Olamilekan (APC, Lagos), who made the disclosure, said they will not hesitate to issue a bench warrant of arrest on the NCAA Managing Director and heads of other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) who continue to evade appearance before the committee to answer audit queries.
He said the action became necessary as a result of accusation of failure to answer queries arising from the Auditor-General’s report, adding that the committee would be looking into such questions so far raised between 2003 and 2012.
Alleging lack of financial transparency in the dealings of the two agencies, Olamilekan said the committee was committed to stemming the tide of corruption in the MDAs.
He particularly listed the aviation ministry as one of those notorious for tampering with funds belonging to agencies under them, and accused the leadership of FAAN of playing hide-and-seek with his committee.
According to him, “The new DG of FAAN has been avoiding the committee. We have invited them more than three times, but they always have one excuse or the other. Then, I continue to wonder that somebody, who is supposed to be a technocrat, is now defending the purchase of two armoured cars for a minister. They are bringing politics into it. Mind you, this is a matter that is already before the public.
“Again, you see, ministers trampling on the agencies under them collecting funds that are not budgeted for like what you have just seen in the case of aviation minister that went into NCAA accounts.
“Money, which has been set aside to monitor the activities of air planes within the aviation sector, money being paid by these operators to NCAA to work with, money that has not been provided for in the budget, the minister believes NCAA is under her purview, and she can go into their account, withdraws money in that account, and spends the way she likes.
“But the committee has written to NCAA now to appear before it. Give us the statements of your accounts in the last five years. Because, we are not just looking at NCAA with the purchase of those bullet-proof cars. There are a lot of transactions that had gone on behind the scene that are not known to us. And we are not going to deal with NCAA. We are also looking in the direction of FAAN relating to the issue of Bilateral Agreement Special Accounts (BASA) Funds.
“What is contained in that account is several billions of dollars and naira. We need that account from these two agencies for the last five years; both inflows and outflows. And we will be able to marry the two with relevant documented evidence such as the vouchers that have been used and the approval that have been sought to access those funds,” he explained.
In a related development, the committee said the chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Chief Tony Anenih, and the Senator who served at various times as Ministers of Works have cases to answer on contracts in the ministry.
On the Service Wide Vote Account, the lawmaker indicated that the House may vote to review or cancel the service vote in accordance with the wishes of Nigerians.
“The Service Wide Vote Account report will be laid before the House soon, as it is ready. The chairman declared that there is N1.6trn in the Service Wide Vote Account at the discretion of the president, and one of our recommendations is that this account should not be more than five percent of our budget,” he said.
By Saint Mugaga, Abuja
