Federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) in 2019 did not disclose the identities of individuals who benefited from numerous Nigerian government transactions totaling more than 15 billion naira, according to the latest government audit report.
Failure, according to the report, leaves room for diversion and misuse of public funds.
The report prepared by the federation’s auditor general said 37 MDAs were affected.
“The names of the individual beneficiaries in the affected MDAs were not disclosed in the Note to FGN CFS.
“The anomalies could be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system in the consolidation process,” says the report.
The report stated: “Paragraph 127 of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) 1 requires an entity to provide additional information that is not presented on the face of the financial statements but is relevant to understanding any of them.
“This is to allow users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the entity’s financial statements and to further ensure the understandability and facilitate comparability of the financial statements from one year to the next.”
ALSO READ: Procurement Records: Less than 5% of MDA Records Filed in 2020 – BPP
The report asked the accountant general to provide details of the individuals who benefited from the funds or to apply penalties to MDAs affected by “irregular payments” as stipulated by the nation’s financial regulations.
Part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign promises was that his administration would fight corruption in Nigeria, especially in the public sector.