The Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), an anti-corruption Civil Society Organisation, has flayed the spending of over ₦6.2 billion by the Kwara Government in 2020 without relevant expenditure receipts.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the 2020 Citizens’ Accountability Report published on Thursday by the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Finance, Mrs Folorunsho Abdulrazaq, 10 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were listed as the top queried public fund spenders without providing expenditure receipts.
Reacting to the report, ENetSuD Coordinator, Dr Abdullateef Alagbonsi, expressed shock that the Governor’s Office is reportedly the top abuser of office by spending over ₦2 billion without any relevant expenditure receipt.
“After careful re-analysis and re-calculation, ENetSuD noted that a total of 592 audit queries amounting to over ₦6.2 billion were raised by the State’s Auditor General in the 2020 Financial year.
“In the year 2020, the Governor’s Office received a total of 166 audit queries from the Office of the Auditor General of the State.
“The next to the Governor’s Office in the rank of spending public fund without receipt is the Government House that received 95 audit queries for spending over ₦1.5 billion without any relevant expenditure receipt,” the group noted.
Other MDAs that spent without receipts were Ministry of Works and Transport ₦1,296,239,007.94; Ministry of Environment ₦62,378,218.04; Ministry of Finance and Planning ₦262,387,983.97; and Ministry of Youths and Sports ₦156,732,009.84.
The list also includes Office of the Head of Service ₦293,248,899.16; Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development ₦75,795,000; Ministry of Energy ₦153,764,042.83, and Ministry of Water Resources ₦409,926,151.37.
ENetSuD therefore urged the state House of Assembly to urgently and in the public interest, carry out its constitutional duty by conducting robust, extensive and thorough investigation on how the Kwara Government spent the money.
ENetSuD reminded the legislature that failure to do its duty and report its findings to the public, whose taxes are being spent without due process, will not go well with Kwara citizens that they represent in the hallowed chamber. (NAN)
