Reps query alleged financial abuse in veterinary council, seek proof of TSA remittances

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Account at the weekend queried alleged financial abuse in Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN).

Prompted by a query from the Auditor General of the Federation, the committee conducted an investigative hearing into the VCN during which it discovered that an individual staff member, was the sole signatory to the account.

In so doing, the committee learnt that the staff member, who is the VCN’s Director of Accounts, Ayodele Jacob, allegedly moved cash in and out of the council’s account at will.

Sometimes, the committee found out, that he moved the cash to his personal account and from there made payments on behalf of the council.

At the committee hearing, headed by Kingsley Chinda, the lawmakers demanded for statements of Jacob’s personal account from 2013 to January this year to reconcile inflows and outflows in it, with those of the council’s account.

It also sought to know if the council remitted funds promptly into the Treasury Single Account (TSA). The next hearing has been fixed for February 24.

The House of Representatives also offered insight into why it decided to discuss with several stakeholders drawn from the public and private sectors on the 2017 budget. It explained that this was because the House wanted to ensure transparency and openness in the entire process.

Spokesman of the House, Abdulrazak Namdas said that the three days public hearing beginning today to last till Wednesday, critical stakeholders like the Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun and her Budget and National Planning Ministry counterpart, Udoma Udo Udoma, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele and twenty-six other personalities from the public and private sectors are billed to make their input on the 2017 budget.

Credit: Guardian