FG Illegally Withdrew N1.04 Trillion From Special Funds Account In 10yrs- Senate

The Senate has accused the executive of withdrawing money from the Special Funds Account (SFA) from 2002 till 2012 without due process and appropriate financial practice.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Lawan (ANPP, Yobe State) submitted the committee’s finding in a report on the status inquiry into the SFA, which was presented at the floor of the Senate.

Thea report detailed the various withdrawals made by the federal government from SFA.

The report said N1.5 trillion was accrued to the Special Funds Account as at June 30th 2012 out of which the sum of N580 billion were released as loans which have not been paid several years later.

The report also showed that several beneficiaries of the funds utilized the funds for other purposes other than what the funds were created for.

The Special Funds Accounts were initially established to mitigate peculiar areas of needs in the country in 2002.

The funds were intended to tackle erosion and other ecological problems, provide funds to develop alternative mineral resources and provide for unforeseen contingencies and economic downturn.

The Accounts, managed by the Federal Government, comprises the three per cent Development of Natural Resources Account, 1.46 per cent Derivation and Ecology Account, and 0.72 per cent Stabilisation Account.

According to the report, N1.51 trillion accrued to the SFA as at June 30, 2012, from figures obtained from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF). Out of the amount, N1.23 trillion was recorded as total payments to beneficiaries from the account, the report said.

The report also shows how N750 million was released for frivolities such as the development of Abuja Downtown Mall and N10 million released for building an abattoir in Bida, Niger state.

Other loans granted from the funds are: N3.4 billion to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to purchase a chancery in Tokyo, N12 billion loans granted to Ghana and Sao Tome and Principe in 2004 and 2007 as well as N309 million granted to the inspector general of police for purchase of vehicles for UN peace keeping operations in Haiti in 2006, N16.2 billion loan granted to the Directorate of Pilgrim Affairs.

In other infractions, the report noted that N5.7 billion loan was granted to the Ministry of Power and Steel in 2005 for the payment of severance package to disengaged steel workers.

Similarly, in October 2007, the Ministry of Finance also withdrew N10 billion for the payment of arrears of monetisation benefits owed Federal Government parastatals.

The senate consequently directed its committee on Public Accounts to investigate further the utilization of the funds in the special funds account and report to the senate within four weeks.

Source: http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/04/30/fg-illegally-withdrew-n1-04-trillion-from-special-funds-account-in-10yrs-senate/

Is it your money? Second by t'he way

Are we surprised? Afterall, one of the culprits converted Operation Feed the Nation(OFN) equipment bought with govt money to Obasanjo farms Nigeria(OFN) equipment & we still voted him in 1999 & 2003.

The other one more recently illegally & as a sign of insensitivity, took money from POVERTY ALLEVIATION Fund to host Thisday Concert in his state & we still voted him in 2011 & some m.o.r.ons are still asking us to vote him in 2015.

Oh, and in a standard country with sensible legislators in the majority, this report should be sufficient to send the Presidency into jitters but not in Nigeria with Bonaventure Mark and his band of merry legislooters.

Illegal withdraw ? Dn impeach
5th to komet
i would improve 1 day

As sad as it is,we all seem to be pleased with wats happn in dis country,our diff ethnicity can't allow d one voice......we r doomed n m kinda gtn tired of hope

naija don taya me.. make i collect this maye money travel go india.

this is sad.

I fail to see how the highest paid lawmakers on earth (relative to legislative output) possess the moral standing to successfully prosecute an investigation into executive recklessness.

Heck, my instincts tell me all will go quiet once they receive their share.

Na today?

Why are you people acting surprized!?
Na watin they be that, something way we all know but each time una dey do like say its just happening for the first time.

They are all rats in cheese factory.

@ NYRM, these people who are wrecking the economy and jeopardizing the FUTURE of the youths are not SPIRITS, they are are cold blooded flesh and blood in human skin. if you try to do some fact finding and research you will find out these same YOUTH/GENERATION(S) WRECKERS are our uncles, anties, sons, daughters, daddies, mummies, brothers, sisters and what have you. what you are doing now is good and noble, that is the only way the sophisticated oppressors understand, if u dont do it this way, they will say you are lazy...whereas in other saner climes, youths are the drivers of development....BTW the powers that be are watching your activities!!!!! BEWARE

These people again...

Another impeachable offense.

NYRM: Nigerian Youths wake up, We have no other country except Nigeria, We have been suffering in silence while our Leaders put our future in their bank accounts. How can we remain like this? How can a youth go to school and suffered to graduate at the end no job. You are almost 40 and still your future is as bleak as a dark room. Did your parents send you to school to sit at home because our Government have failed us. Let us come out one day and say No. We must not remain like this, we cannot all travel abroad to find a better life, our better life is here in our country. We have the money, oil and resources but only a selected few have continue to suck it dry why we keep believing God for a change, wake up now I challenge you. We need 500,000 youths in each of the 36states to challenge the Government. We say NO, we will destroy this country and rebuild it afresh, we will Kill those who stand on our way as they are consideredthe enemy. A man cannot have billions of naira while millions of youths roam the streets every day looking for daily bread. Our young men must not all be kidnappers, our young girls must not all be prostitutes. Get Ready I tell you. The time has come for us to react, the only way our Government listens is violence,they have shown it to the Niger delta militantsand nowthey are planning to show it to the boko haram..whereas a simple gesture of N20,000 per monthto the unemployed was rejected and you pay militants N75,000 per month. How much do they pay as minimum wage? How much do they pay to elected officers, we are going to revolt. Nigeria will burn to berebuilt again like Libya, Iraq, Egypt and Tunisia...pleas e spread this message unless you want todie in poverty in a country where God has destined all of us to be happy and prosperous...!! ! Pls send this msg to all ur contact cos anytin can happen o!!! The time is right for us all to say no bad governance who take the youths for granted!
I knw sum will say NO let start the move together by joining the group "nigerian youths movement for revolution"pls don't send friend request just like the group "nigerian youths movement for revolution" help us in recommending the group to ur family and friend say no to bad leaders, say no to oppressors

Wake up frm nairaland?

well i have said it once and will continue to say it loud and clear once again than the only visible solution to the situation our dear country Nigeria is to stage revolution,i bet you my fellow Nigerian youth that without revolution,we are not heading any where in our struggle for better life and economic development,i wish to remind you that no matter how much we can write here without any proper action is still like a wind blowing without any effect.we youth owns the struggle to our liberation,we can not expect foreign country to come and fight for us,its high time we stand up to face the fact our leaders,those that have contributed to the downfall of this country both in the past and present must held accountable for it,we shouldn't be having it at the back of our mind that if the country get better so be it and if its the other way round,since i was born ,i have never enjoy nor gain anything as a citizen ,so why cant we stand to fight for our right when we all knows that this country is highly blessed but the people we have as the leader are the one destroying the good country God created us to be and enjoy,we need to fight not for today but for the next generation to come ,am a father and wouldn't want my kids to experience the same ordeal i went through despite being a graduate,we are still within the time limit for the fight ,we need revolution and its only through revolution that we can make a headway ,i therefore declare revolution to keep start in all the 36 state of the federation.

These politicians with their unjust and wasteful squanders. They no longer speak in million terms but now in billions and trillions. Nigeria is sick. Where 80% of Nigerian youths can barely boast of N10000 in a month. These unspeakable acts of cruelty should be stopped before all Nigerian politicians get abducted. I don talk my own o

what do u mean by dat? it is our money, why cant youths of dis nation be wise for once?

pls where were was the house members when all this was happening?and now they are there making useless statement

Jonathan, Pls Chop The One U Can Chop Nao!! No Space For Second Chance!!

coup e'tat is the only solution but expensive.

Same story, just a different day, Nigeria is Gone forever!!!

It is a wolf crying in the senate because they cannot be trusted. The executive prepares appropriation bill and the members of the senate change it, just to increase their allowances. If they had the opportunity, they would have divided the money among themselves. They should keep quiet and wait for revolution to consume them. The time is drawing near.

From the information provided here, most of those withdrawals predate this admin, so why did they not raise alarm them?
Talking about the illegality of the withdrawal (which I don‘t support anyway), has the SINate checked to see if the projects for which the fund was withdrawn were actually executed to specifications?
Finally, the SINate should have told us the position of the law on fund/account. It‘s not enough to shout ‘illegality‘ when you haven‘t said what makes it illegal.

NYRM: Nigerian Youths wake up, We have no other country except Nigeria, We have been suffering in silence while our Leaders put our future in their bank accounts. How can we remain like this? How can a youth go to school and suffered to graduate at the end no job. You are almost 40 and still your future is as bleak as a dark room. Did your parents send you to school to sit at home because our Government have failed us. Let us come out one day and say No. We must not remain like this, we cannot all travel abroad to find a better life, our better life is here in our country. We have the money, oil and resources but only a selected few have continue to suck it dry why we keep believing God for a change, wake up now I challenge you. We need 500,000 youths in each of the 36states to challenge the Government..........

I like your post but who among the rats will bell the cat?

Tlake: As sad as it is,we all seem to be pleased with wats happn in dis country,our diff ethnicity can't allow d one voice......we r doomed n m kinda gtn tired of hope

Nigerians believe too much in prayers, Prayers without action will never yield any result whatsoever. I guess those guys at the top already see through most Nigerians and they tell y'all to pray for the Nation, Even the pastors and Imam ain't helping. If you want Nigeria to move from this Shiit-hole to something more meaningful, y'all need to change ur mindset and say no to how the country is being run.

4bobo:

I like your post but who among the rats will bell the cat?

If we do not stop this trends of mismanagement this country is going through right now, our next generation will be doomed for ever.

HNosegbe: I fail to see how the highest paid lawmakers on earth (relative to legislative output) possess the moral standing to successfully prosecute an investigation into executive recklessness.

Heck, my instincts tell me all will go quiet once they receive their share.

Na today?

Yes we know yhey are the well paid but cant we just sit down and look more into issues and less into people.

These same senators, through Bukola Saraki, drew our attention to the subsidy scam thats been happening - the rise from 250bn to 1.2trn.

Please let them do their jobs! Half is better than none!


Frawzey

Isn't she beautiful!!