The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) has given its support to the recommendation by the Senate for sanction of officials in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, who reportedly made Nigeria to lose $274.2million (N54.1billion) on external loans.
The group conveyed its position in a statement signed by Tola Oresanwo, its Director of Administration and Programmes, on behalf of its Chairman, Debo Adeniran.
It recalled that the Senate approved the report of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts before proceeding on annual vacation last week.
According to the group,the Senate, in its resolution, asked the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, to identify the officers and sanction them for mismanaging public funds, in accordance with Rule 3115 of the Financial Regulations and for gross misconduct.
It also noted the provision of Rule 3115 of the Financial Regulations, which stated that, “An accounting officer who is queried for his failure to manage or spend public funds, effectively or who spends public money without due regard to economy contrary to Financial Regulation 415 and fails to reply to the query, shall be removed from the schedule and be disciplined in accordance with the Public Service Rules.”
CACOL revealed that the Senate, in its resolution after the presentation of the report of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts by Senator Matthew Urhoghide, upheld the recommendation of the committee asking that officials involved in the transaction be sanctioned.
Adeniran was quoted in the statement as saying that:“The attitude of some public officials while managing public funds are suspect and questionable. It is a known fact that some government officials willy-nilly act in ways that are counterproductive to the economy of the country.Just as has been noted elsewhere, in discharging their responsibilities to the people, any governmental official, serving in any ministry, department or agency of government would do well to adhere to international best practices in discharging their responsibilities to and on behalf of the people.
“It is our unequivocal position that in the process of obtaining a loan for the country, cumbersome additional expenses should not be added to the already excruciating debt burden.To this end, officials of government must pay attention to details at all times and be seen like Caesar’s wife to be above board”
