APRIL 22, 2012 BY IFEANYI ONUBA
The Federal Government on Saturday night terminated the services of accounting and auditing firms that were responsible for certifying the documents and claims of marketers before payment.
The companies are Akintola Williams and Company and Adekanola and Company.
The move, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, became imperative following concerns raised about the management of the subsidy regime.
The statement said the ministry had within the last two months been reviewing aspects of the implementation of the subsidy regime related to its functions.
The review, it noted, had produced a lot of useful details on what went wrong with the system and what needed to be done to ensure improvement.
It said the review process kicked off in February when the ministry and relevant government agencies held a meeting with bankers and marketers at the instance of President Goodluck Jonathan.
This, it said, was followed by a subsequent session with the accounting and auditing firms to re-evaluate their work.
Based on the review, the statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, said, “The services of the audit and accounting firms responsible for certifying the documents and claims of marketers before payment have been terminated.
“The companies are Akintola Williams and Company and Adekanola and Company.”
The Ministry also established a committee made up of persons from the private and public sector with strong technical component under the chairmanship of Mr. Aigboje Imoukuede to examine the claims of payment arrears for 2011 currently being made by marketers.
This, it noted, would help ensure that only genuine claims were honoured.
It said, “The ministry is also finalising a new and more effective system to replace the current arrangement and, in this regard, a second committee has been set up to propose a good way forward.
“Based on other outcomes of the review, the ministry will take further actions as necessary.”
The statement further disclosed that the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee had put on hold further depletion of the Excess Crude Account.
While the statement did not state the reason for the sacking, the probe panel had alleged that the N5.27 billion “over-recovery” for 2009, which was established by the NNPC and PPPRA’s official external auditors, Akintola Williams, had no evidence that the fund was remitted to the Petroleum Subsidy Fund Account.
The report explained that one of the sources of revenue for the PSF Account was “over-recovery,” which was the money accruable to the PSF Account whenever the product landing cost was lower than the Ex-Depot price.
The panel however observed that there was an over-recovery of N2.766 billion in 2009, different from the N5.27 billion claimed by the auditing firm, adding, “This was expected to have been credited to the PSF Account but was not traceable to the official PSF Account disclosed.”
The report said, “In the presentation made by Akintola Williams, it was claimed that the sum of NGN5.27 billion was established as over-recovery in 2009, however, there was no evidence that this money was credited to the PSF Account.”
There were speculations that the sacking might have been based on the recommendation of the panel.
In its recommendation, it said, “Marketers that had short-changed Nigerians were identified and recommended to make refunds within a time-frame of three months; civil servants were to be sanctioned in accordance with the civil service rules as well as under extant laws.
It added, “Management staff and top government officials, based on the gravity of their offences, are to be reprimanded, re-deployed, dismissed and, in specific cases, prosecuted for abuse of office and fraudulent practices.”
The report said, but for the disobedience and failure to enforce the stipulated guidelines, the subsidy scheme could have succeeded, adding that the level of corruption could have been minimal, if the staff of various agencies, both government and private, had not compromised and colluded with some oil marketers.
SOURCE: The Punch, 22 Apri 2012. http://www.punchng.com/
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