Customs’ seven-year unaudited account:  Reps summon AGF, BPP

The House of Representatives on Monday summoned the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, and Director-General of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mamman Ahmadu, to appear before it and explain why the account of the Nigerian Customs Service was not audited in seven years.

Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Mr Wole Oke, issued the summons in Abuja when the leadership of the NCS appeared before the panel, which is investigating deliberate refusal by non-treasury funded ministries, departments and agencies to render accounts between 2014 and 2018 to the Auditor-General of the Federation.

Oke ordered Customs to furnish the committee with the correspondence between it and the BPP on the engagement of auditors, in order to locate and identify the issues with the accounts.

The lawmaker asked why an agency like the Customs could be having difficulty in auditing its accounts and presenting reports on them.

Oke said, “I recall that you told the committee that you have yet to submit your account from 2013 till date but the wrongdoer has come out to say ‘sorry’. But the painful aspect of it is that we are all relying on you; you are the pillar based on which the public finance is undertaken. If you, NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation), FIRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service) are not working, then where are we going to get the money?

“The funds we are sharing between the three tiers of government are mostly generated from you. So, if you do not have accounts, then how can we do that? The law also made provision that in case you want to procure in an emergency situation, go and procure, and then come back and report to us.”

The lawmaker stated that BPP, despite being the regulator, cannot act in order all the time.

“We must find out the mischief, the reasons for frustrating Customs. I have read your letter. The Constitution is the supreme document, so we need to correct them,” he stated.