Officials of the former Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, to whose personal accounts tranches of funds were paid in the last third of 2019, were accused of receiving the funds in the report

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the former Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to break his silence on the N4.6 billion this newspaper found was paid into private accounts of officials under his watch.

The party’s latest call joins the clamour by Nigerians and anti-corruption advocates for the findings in the exposé to be investigated and that culpable officials be prosecuted, a call anti-graft agency EFCC has promised to answer.

The exposé indicted 21 officials of the former Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, before it was split into two ministries last year, to whose personal accounts tranches of funds were paid in the last third of 2019.

In a statement signed by PDP’s publicist, Kola Ologbondiyan, and shared on their verified twitter handle, the opposition party also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to speak on the findings in the report.

“Moreover, the silence by @tundefashola and the @MBuhari Presidency over this very weighty revelation is heightening apprehensions of complicity in the public space,” Mr Ologbondiyan said in the statement.

He added that the revelation in the report “has further exposed the rot and humongous corruption going on in ministries, departments and agencies under its watch, despite the much orchestrated anti-corruption stance and “holier than thou” attitude of its officials.”

“If a whooping N4.6 billion is exposed to have been stolen in a space of (four) months in one ministry, one can only imagine how much has been stolen in the last five years in various ministries and departments by officials of the (Buhari’s) administration.”

It accused the ministry of fritting away public funds “to service some higher interests.”

This, it added, “must be unraveled and the funds immediately recovered.”

It also tasked the EFCC to invite Mr Fashola and all other indicted officials to ensure that those guilty are punished legally.


LINK: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/426963-pdp-asks-fashola-presidency-to-speak-on-n4-6-billion-paid-to-power-ministry-officials.html

Calmblaze

Smh....They will hide it very soon

Nigeria has failed

Hmmm

“If a whooping N4.6 billion is exposed to have been stolen in a space of (four) months in one ministry, one can only imagine how much has been stolen in the last five years in various ministries and departments by officials of the (Buhari’s) administration.”

This is unbelievable! These guys are looting everything in sight. How can the stealing of billions in different federal ministries become almost a daily occurrence in a country/administration that makes so much noise about fighting corruption

This is serious

This demoncrazy is what will kill this country, stealing everyday, APC is trying to beat PDP record in stealing public fund

He failed Nigerians not just the a particular section.

Fashola really fell our hand.

This guy is simply overrated to me. The money Obasanjo seized during Tinubu governorship was released to him and he did what people thought was extra ordinary. Millions of naira website comes to mind.

Anyway all politicians are thieves.

Money Looting is like Oxygen to this people, They can't do without it!!

Nawaao



Want to make more money for this coming Xmas?
Interested people should see my signature.

SpecialAdviser:
Fashola really fell our hand.

This guy is simply overrated to me. The money Obasanjo seized during Tinubu governorship was released to him and he did what people thought was extra ordinary. Millions of naira website comes to mind.

Anyway all politicians are thieves.

They pay newspaper editors to burnish their images with the "action governor" tag... When you eventually put them on the spot to prove the tag, their actions will show you that they're all nothing but crooks.

Recycling news that have been debunked...

Hiss

Very fresh allegations..

Agent fash

These are the same group of people preparing to take over from Buhari in order to take Nigeria to "greater heights".. This inept man has been looting non-stop for almost 20 years now, and he is not tired! It's my belief that certain sections of Nigeria are only attracted to becoming citizens of the country because of the grand chances of looting the government treasury and getting away with it.. it's all about looting! Grab I grab mentality..

gONGEO:
This is serious

They will sweep it under the carpet as usual..

E don happen

Agent Fashola to be given Oshiomothief treatment any moment from now.

Demystification of fashola has started

Looters

Fashola muddles facts in reaction to report on suspicious N4.6 billion paid into personal accounts

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, muddled the facts Monday as he reacted to a PREMIUM TIMES exposé on how, under his watch, a suspicious lodgment of N4.6 billion was paid into the private accounts of some employees of the ministry in the last quarter of 2019.

In what he suggested was a witch hunt, Mr Fashola said the suspicious payments were not peculiar to his ministry as they occur in other ministries.

The minister, a lawyer himself, said this despite chapter 7, section 713 of the financial regulation of the civil service barring agencies of government from paying such monies into private accounts.

He said the payments were made to public officials who were not on the Integrated Payment Platform and Information System (IPPIS), the nation’s payroll portal for government’s employees.

The minister, however, did not provide a list of the ultimate beneficiaries of the funds and the reasons for which they were paid. He also did not explain his claim that some government officials are not on Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). All government employees, except those newly recruited, are on IPPIS.

IPPIS is an information Communications Technology (ICT) project initiated by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of payroll administration for its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
This newspaper also found that Mr Fashola’s position on IPPIS is not true as the payment records on the open treasury portal showed the slew of funds was paid for capital expenditure, not recurrent.

Also, the director of finance in the now standalone ministry of power, Adewumi Omotayo, had told PREMIUM TIMES that the payments were not for officials not on the IPPIS, but for those not on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), an IT tracker of the government’s budget implementation domiciled under the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Mr Fashola admitted, nonetheless, that the payments “have been a source of concern reported in other media by Compliance Authorities.”

He noted that as ministers, they do not manage the accounts and finances of their ministries. “A little investigation would have shown Premium Times that Directors of Finance and Accounts (DFAs) are those who do this job and they are staff of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and seconded to the Ministries as part of financial controls,” the statement read.

An official in the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation also told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Fashola’s claims were false and misleading.

“I can assure you that the minister’s claim is a cover-up that is faulty on all sides,” the official said, asking not to be named because he has no permission to speak on the matter. “Since the Treasury Single Account (TSA) is in place, there is no reason to pay funds into individual accounts. It is the latest trick they are using to steal money and the minister knows this.”

The official advises anti-corruption groups in Nigeria to petition the nation’s anti-graft agencies (the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission) on the matter.

A thorough investigation will reveal the massive fraud involved in the current practice of making payments into individual accounts, he said.

Prior to this story, PREMIUM TIMES’ request for explanations in an FOI sent to the ministry was not answered. Also, the head of the minister’s media team, Hakeem Bello, declined comment, when contacted.

PREMIUM TIMES is standing by its story, Managing Editor Idris Akinbajo said.

“We challenge Mr Fashola to quickly make public evidence of the payments to the ultimate beneficiaries, a list of the ultimate beneficiaries and reasons for the payments,” Mr Akinbajo said. “Those were the questions our letter requested his ministry to answer. We are still waiting for a response.”

LINK: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/427870-fashola-muddles-facts-in-reaction-to-report-on-suspicious-n4-6-billion-paid-into-personal-accounts.html