The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation investigated a petition accusing two officials of the Federal Ministry of misappropriating N104, 842,800 DTA fund.

The Accountant-General of the Federation's office has cleared a director and another official at the Federal Ministry of Justice accused of embezzling N104 million Duty Tour Allowance (DTA).

The clearance, contained in a memo, exonerated Joshua Kadmi, Director of Finance and Account (DFA), and Abuh Danjuma, the project accountant, at the Federal Ministry of Justice, of the fraud allegations levelled against them by a civil society group, Integrity and Transparency Watch.

"No payment was made in the Ministry without the approval of the Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary," the report, dated April 1, 2022 and issued on behalf of the Accountant-General of the Federation, read, in part.

Signed by C. N. Anamekwe, the Director of Treasury Inspectorate of the

Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the report was addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, which requested the investigation into the allegations.

Allegations

The petitioner, Integrity and Transparency Watch, had, in its petition dated February 15, 2022, accused Mr Kadmi and Mr Danjuma of misappropriating N104, 842,800.

They allegedly perpetrated the fraud through the private accounts of Mr Danjuma, the ministry's project accountant.

The alleged accounts were given as 2064800888 and 0050341092 with United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Access Bank, respectively.

The petitioner stated that DTAs ought to be paid to individual accounts in accordance with e-payment circular of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

It added that instead, millions of naira transferred from Abuh Danjuma's UBA account were traced to a Bureau De Change for conversion to foreign currency.

It also stated that money was withdrawn from Mr Danjuma's account and handed over to the DFA through 'Ghana-must-go' bags.

It said all the transactions occurred in the month of November and December, 2021 towards the financial year and when unspent funds were to be paid to the government coffers.

According to the petitioner, the financial recklessness of the DFA led the hurried transfer of the internal Auditor, a deputy director, Adedokun Adebayo Abdusalam, who disagreed with the DFA's mode of operation.

The petitioner called for an immediate investigation into the fraudulent activities which it claimed were grave to the nation's economy.

Following a request by the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, set up an investigative panel to conduct a special inspection and investigation into the allegations.

Findings

The panel, after concluding its investigations, cleared the duo of Messrs Kamdi and Danjuma of the alleged misappropriation, saying the payments by them were done with requisite approval of the approving authority.

Contrary to the petitioner's claim, the panel said Mr Danjuma, the project coordinator, maintained only a bank account in United Bank for Africa and none with Access Bank.

It added that apart from the fact that all payments in the ministry were with the approval of the Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary, "All the payment vouchers were prepared according to the provisions of Financial Regulation i.e the PV's were checked, enter into the vote book and checked by the internal audit."

"The payment vouchers were posted accordingly into all relevant boos of content," it added.

It also stated that the payment made through the account of the project accountant, Mr Danjuma, was "due to the fact that the beneficiaries were not in the GIFMIS Employee Payable Module whose payment to such individuals could be possible only through an intermediary."

On the allegation of hurried transfer of Adedokun Adebayo Abdulsalam whom the petitioner claimed opposed the transactions, the investigative panel said it "was in good faith".

This, the panel, said, was because "the responsibility of posting pool officers (accountants and interval auditors) lies solely with the Accountant-General of the Federation and so was testified by the aforementioned officer."

It also stated that "Other allegations bordering on money in 'Ghana must go' bags, Bureau De Change e.t.c could not be substantiated with facts by the petitioner and the team considered it null and void."

But the panel faulted the appointment of Mr Danjuma as project accountant in the ministry, an action it said: "was not in conformity with the provision of the Federal Treasury Circular Ref: No Try A7 & B7/2020 dated 23rd June 2020."

Recommendations

Among other recommendations, the panel advised the Ministry of Justice to comply with "all necessary guidelines regarding government expenditures."

It added that the ministry must "also ensure that the operating process/projects are perfected in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation in strict compliance with the provision of Federal Treasury Circular and extant rules."

In addition, it said, the petitioner "should be advised to always verify facts before writing on matters relating to government expenditure and should be made to be aware of the consequence of wrong whistleblowing."

Copyright Premium Times. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English