Consolidated revenue fund overdrawn by N2.48tr, says Auditor-General – Newstrends
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Consolidated revenue fund overdrawn by N2.48tr, says Auditor-General

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The Auditor General of the Federation has queried alleged unsubstantiated transfer of N3.627 trillion from government coffers to entities to fund recurrent expenditure in the 2018 financial year.

He also said the Consolidated Revenue Fund was overdrawn to the tune N2.483 trillion in total disregard of Financial Regulation (FR) 710.

Financial Regulation (FR) 710 stipulates that “No government bank account shall be overdrawn or any temporary advance obtained from a bank. In the event of an account being overdrawn, the Officer Responsible shall be made to refund any bank charges incurred thereon.”

Besides, the AuGF in his report submitted to the National Assembly queried the funding of government investments in non-existent or moribund companies to the tune of N84.702 billion, adding that there was no evidence supporting investment of government in the companies.

The part two report with reference number GF/AR.2018/VOL.II/02 of 25th March, 2021 was signed by the Auditor General of the Federation, Adolphus A. Aghughu and addressed to the Clerk to the National Assembly.

According to the report, the sum  of N8.101 trillion was transferred to fund recurrent expenditure-receipt’ in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Performance, while the sum of N11.728 trillion by 944 MDAs gave rise to an unsubstantiated difference of N3.627 trillion which was recognised in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Performance.

“The audit is unable to validate the correctness or otherwise of the difference under reference,” the AuGF said.

The report said further that about 103 MDAs exceeded their Personnel Cost Budget by ₦641.757 billion in 2018 while another 115 MDAs had zero Personnel Cost even though there was Budget allocation for them.

It queried the sources of extra funds for salaries and wages to the 103 MDAs and why there was zero personnel budget for the 115 MDAs even though the MDAs under reference had annual budgets approved for them.

It expressed concern about the completeness and accuracy of the consolidated figures with respect to salaries and wages, adding that “the above anomalies could be attributed to absence of strong quality assurance around the consolidation process at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The risk to government resources, it said, is the fact that the consolidated financial statements may have been misstated while there may have been unauthorised virement instead of seeking approval of the National Assembly.

It put the total amount of GIFMIS finalised payments for randomly selected 99 MDAs at ₦536.050 billion and the consolidated salaries and wages at ₦532.352 billion, leading to an understatement of ₦3,698 billion.

The report said there was no further information to enable the audit to verify the understatement.

It attributed the discrepancy to “weaknesses in the internal control systems around the consolidation process at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation”.

The audit report disclosed that there were certain irregularities in the disclosure of aids and grants to MDAs to the tune of ₦219.562 billion, which it said was in contravention of Auditor-General for the Federation’s recommendation in 2017 report that ‘Aid and Grants’ should be disclosed in a recommended format.

It said “as a result of the above violation, the sum of ₦219.562 billion shown as Aid & Grants could not be validated, and there was ‘Foreign Grants’ of ₦4,200.00 (Four thousand two hundred naira) as well as ‘Domestic Grant’ of ₦17,100.00 (Seventeen thousand one hundred naira) totaling ₦21,300.00 in favour of Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Audit is concerned as to what amount in foreign currency was donated to the extent that its naira equivalent was ₦4,200.00. The donor was not disclosed to enable audit follow up with circularization”.

It said this makes accountability difficult and could cast doubt on the existence and accuracy of reported figures.

On doubtful government investments in NITEL and other Moribund companies, the report said  about N84.702 billion was invested in companies whose going concern and continue existence are in doubt, adding that “efforts by the audit to verify the investment in NITEL yielded no result as the Agency in question had been liquidated.

“Continued recognition of these investments without fully disclosing their impairment status in the Consolidated Financial Statements as required by the above IPSAS cast doubt as to their accuracy and existence.

“Audit therefore concludes that since there is no evidence that supports government investment in NITEL and other companies, it is more likely that these investments may have been impaired,” it said.

The Auditor General’s report also stated that some government agencies embarked upon overhead expenditure without appropriation while some others carried out unapproved virement to fund their overheads.

It said about 14 MDAs incurred overhead expenditure totaling N162.924 billion without appropriation in total disregard to the 1999 constitution as amended, leading to possible misappropriation of funds.

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Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

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Peter Obi and Felix Morka

Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

One-time Anambra State Governor Peter Obi came under a scathing criticism yesterday from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over his assessment of the security and economic situation of the country.

At a news conference, Obi disagreed with the claims of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his New Year Day address which chronicled the feats attained by the APC-led administration.

Obi alleged that the political, economic and security situations in the country have worsened under the incumbent administration.

But the APC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka carpeted Obi, describing his assessment as jaundiced, misleading and an attempt to score cheap political points.

In a statement, Morka put a lie to Obi’s claims.

He noted that Obi’s assessment was at variance with all indicators that showed that the nation’s economy is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors.

Dismissing Obi’s claims, Morka said: “While Nigerians celebrated the New Year with hope for a more glorious 2025, Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, was seemingly stuck in replay of his jangling, gloom-ridden wish-list for our country.

“Obi’s new year message, in which he claimed that the political, economic and security situation of our dear country is worsening daily, is misleading and appears intended to score cheap political points.

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“This claim, at a time when all indicators show that our country is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors, casts Obi, squarely, as Nigeria’s leading doomsayer.”

Morka, who reeled out the achievements of the APC-led administration, said: “In reality, 18 months later, the economy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, has showed steady record of progress.”

He listed the landmarks as:

The ruling party further argued: “Despite these and other initial beneficial outcomes of ongoing unprecedented reforms, the administration is doubling its effort to ensuring that the reforms deliver their fullest benefits for the sustainable growth and transformation of our country.”

The ruling party said that the Presidential New Year message acknowledged that the “cost of food and essential drugs remained a significant concern for many Nigerian households. And to reverse this trend, Mr. President assured that his administration was committed to lowering food prices by boosting food production and promoting local production of drugs.”

The party also highlighted Tinubu’s resolve to crash the current inflation rate from 34 per cent to 15 per cent in the course of this fiscal year as a move to addressing the threat inflation poses to the country’s economy.

The statement further reads: “With the vigour in the administration’s war on corruption, evidenced by ongoing investigations and trial of  well-heeled Nigerians, Obi’s pontification on the urgent need to tame corruption is a clear case  of carrying coal to Newcastle.”

Faulting Obi, the party said: “It is a thing of irony that Peter Obi, who now arrogates to himself to be omniscient and philosopher’s stone, when it comes to our nation’s challenges, left no record of significant achievement, let alone transformation of any kind, in his eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra State.

“Like his co-travellers in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Obi’s obsessive pessimism and endless but futile effort to incite public outrage against the administration is borne out of their realisation that President Tinubu is unwittingly cementing their ultimate political irrelevance by his visionary and full-throttle reform and transformation of the fundamental pillars of our national life.”

Appealing for citizens’ support and patience, the APC spokesman assured Nigerians that “under the banner of the Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA), President Tinubu is dutifully turning our nation’s fortunes around.

“He (Tinubu) deserves the support  and patience of Nigerians in order to consolidate on the deep economic foundation he has laid, and deliver a vibrant, prosperous new Nigeria for the good of all.  We urge Nigerians to remain confident of better days ahead.”

Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

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Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

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Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

Currency in circulation has reached an all-time high of N4.8 trillion as of November 2024, recording over seven per cent increase from the previous month.

Also, currency outside banks grew significantly in the same month hitting an all-time high of N4.6 trillion from the N4.2 trillion in the month of October.

These figures were contained in the money and credit supply data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The currency in circulation is the amount of cash–in the form of paper notes or coins–within a country that is physically used to conduct transactions between consumers and businesses.

It represents the money that has been issued by the country’s monetary authority, minus cash that has been removed from the system.

Similarly, currency outside a bank refers to cash held by individuals, businesses and other entities that is not stored in banks.

The currency outside the bank represents about 96 per cent of the currency in circulation.

Nigerians have in recent times been facing acute cash shortage with banks limiting daily withdrawal at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to N20,000 irrespective of the number of accounts held by an account owner.

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According to the latest data, the currency in circulation grew by seven per cent to reach 4,878,125.22 from 4,549,217.51 in October.

Currency in circulation has grown steadily in the outgoing year 2024 with over one trillion naira added to cash in circulation after starting the year with N3.65 trillion in January.

In February, the currency in circulation slightly increased to N3.69 trillion representing an increase of N43 billion or 1.18 per cent from the January figure.

March also saw an appreciable increase to N3.87 trillion while it further increased to N3.92 trillion in the following month of April.

The growth trajectory continued in May with the currency in circulation increasing slightly to N3.97 trillion, an increase of N42 billion or 1.07 per cent while it reached an all-time high of 4.04 trillion, an increase of 2.11 per cent from May.

The July figure also rose marginally with the currency in circulation settling for N4.05 trillion before growing to N4.14 trillion in August and N4.43 trillion in September and N4.5 trillion in October.

In the same vein, currency outside banks grew from N4.2 trillion in October to N4.6 trillion in November, showing increasing preference for other means of storing outside bank deposits.

Economist, Dr. Paul Alaje attributed the development to the expanding money supply, adding, “Money supply is expanding but this may not necessarily be in cash. As it is expanding, it will necessarily induce inflation. But you can’t blame the people. People must look for money. How much was bottled water last year, how much is it today? All of this will induce inflation. If you now ask, what is the cause of inflation? Is it money supply itself or a devaluation policy? It is a devaluation policy. Money supply is an offshoot. So the Central Bank is raising interest rates to actually reduce money supply but the more they try the more money supply expands.”

He stated that the floatation policy of the CBN has created inflation, adding, “It is like chasing one’s tail and I don’t know if you are going to catch it.”

Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

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Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

President Bola Tinubu has been accused of not being forthright about the true state of Nigeria under his administration.

Former Jigawa State Governor and senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, Sule Lamido, made the accusation while speaking on the BBC Hausa programme Gane Mini Hanya.

Lamido criticized both Tinubu and former President Muhammadu Buhari for what he described as a lack of transparency in governance.

“Buhari’s and Tinubu’s governments are not being transparent with Nigerians unlike during the time when PDP was in power where everything was transparent and open to all Nigerians,” Lamido said.

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He accused the two administrations of relying on propaganda rather than providing citizens with accurate information.

Lamido also expressed concerns over President Tinubu’s recent loan requests, questioning the logic behind them. “If Nigerians are being told the truth then there is nothing wrong with that, but how would you budget N30tn, generate N50tn and then request loan when you have a surplus of N20tn,” he said, referencing last year’s budget.

He described the situation as “reckless” and “selfish,” adding, “This recklessness and clear-cut selfishness is not done anywhere in the world, but yet you find (some) Nigerians supporting it. Visit social media and see how APC is being criticised, being referred to as calamity, yet you find some protecting it.”

Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

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