The Senate raised concern over the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation’s incapacity to return N910 billion in short-term loans made to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) from Special Funds Accounts.
This came to light during a comprehensive investigation conducted by the Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Senator Mathew Urhoghide, following the submission of the 2017 Auditor General report.
According to the committee’s findings, the outstanding loans and debts from Special Funds Accounts amounted to N910,039,557,742, and despite being designated as short-term loans, the balances remained unpaid throughout the year.
In response, the Office of the Accountant General claimed to have written multiple letters to the Minister of Finance, seeking authorization for the settlement of the loans using allocations from the affected MDAs.
Furthermore, the AGF office stated that it had requested the inclusion of loan repayments in the 2017 budget. However, the Urhoghide-led committee observed a recurring abuse of the Special Funds by the Executive, with withdrawals made for political expediency, disregarding the intended purpose of these funds.
Consequently, the Senate has issued an order for the Accountant General of the Federation to recover all outstanding loans within 60 days. The recovered amount is to be presented as evidence to both the Auditor General and the Senate Public Accounts Committee.
