Senate Fumes  Over  NACA’s  Failure To Release Records Of Global Fund For Audit

4 years ago
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The Senate has expressed anger with the  National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) over failure to release records of Global Fund for audit.
The position of the upper chamber of the National Assembly was hinged on the 2016 Report of Auditor General of the Federation submitted to Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired Senator Mathew Urhoghide.
The Committee Chairman also berated the agency for failing  to include the financial  activities  of  the Global Fund  such as amount  received  from the  Fund  and  its  utilization   into  the  2015  Financial  Statements  of the  Agency.
Defending the agency, the Director of Finance and Account of NACA, Nsikak Ebong said, “the global fund grants records are always available for review. These documents have always been made available to auditor or review on demand.”
Angered by this lame excuse, the Auditor General of the Federation, Eyitatyo Agehsin lambasted the NACA Director of Finance and Account, pointing out that when the request was made in 2016, NACA was unable to present the documents for audit
According to him, the report was written in August 2016 and they responded in February 20, 2017, almost about seven months after.
“We asked them to respond within 21 days but they didn’t do that. When NACA responded after seven months, they simply said ‘This is noted.’
“That means that they agreed that they committed an error and you now said, the records are ready and available for your office at your convenience. That means we should come to your office again,  the second time. We don’t have that time. We expect you to bring your records to the office as proof because the onus is on you to defend that record. You didn’t bring it.”
In his remarks, Urhoghide said: “There is no proof before us that gave details of what you got from global funds. DFA, you were there when this query was raised in 2016.
“Why don’t you bring the necessary documents that would show us what you got from global fund? You were coming to the Senate to respond to the query raised against you and you didn’t bring any document to show us?”
The Committee therefore sustained the query as the Director of Finance and Account of NACA refused to release records of Global Fund for the Committee.
The query reads: “The  records  of  Global  Fund  with  the  Agency  were  not  released  for  audit examination  despite  repeated  demands.    As  a  result,  it was  not  possible  to  ascertain  the total  amount  received  from  the  Fund  during  the  year  to  form  an  objective  opinion  on  the judicious  utilization  of  the  money.   All  efforts  to  obtain  the  records,  including explanations,  were not successful.
“Similarly,  the financial  activities  of  the Global Fund  such as amount  received  from the  Fund  and  its  utilization  were  not  incorporated  into  the  2015  Financial  Statements  of the  Agency,  to  form  part  of  the  Agency’s  Incomes  and  Expenditures  for  the  year.
“The financial  statements  of  the  Agency  are  expected  to  disclose  not  only  funds  from  the federal government  of  Nigeria,  but  also  incomes  from  other  sources  such as the Global Fund,  World  Bank,  etc.    Details  of  the  utilization  of  the  funds  should  also  be  disclosed, to  give  complete  information  regarding  the  financial  position  of  the  Agency  and  to  avoid misleading  the public.
“The  Director-General  did  not  respond  to  my  report  dated  29th  August,  2017.    He should  therefore  be compelled to explain the  incomplete  financial statements.”
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