The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives has mandated the Federal Fire Service to promptly refund the sum of N1.48bn to the Federation Account within a week. This directive stems from the committee’s dissatisfaction with the service’s failure to account for the intervention funds it received for the COVID-19 health epidemic.
Chaired by Bamidele Salam, the committee took this decision on Wednesday after the Federal Fire Service neglected to appear for the third consecutive time at the investigative hearing. Deputy Chairman Jeremiah Umar expressed concern, stating that numerous other agencies had cooperated with the committee during the ongoing investigation. He emphasized that there was no justification for the fire service to disregard such a crucial committee.
Jeremiah Umar moved a motion for the immediate refund of the N1.48bn, citing the service’s inability to address the controversies surrounding its COVID-19 expenditure during the committee’s sessions. In the absence of a satisfactory explanation, the committee deemed refunding the funds the appropriate course of action.
In a related development, the committee issued fresh invitations to several defaulting ministries, departments, and agencies of the Federal Government. These entities were summoned to address various queries raised by the Auditor General of the Federation regarding the utilization of billions of naira allocated as COVID-19 intervention funds.
Among those invited are the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (N50.5bn), the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (N33bn), the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs through the National Centre for Women Development (N625m), the National Centre for Disease Control (N25bn), and the Federal Ministry of Health (N10bn).
Bamidele Salam expressed disappointment that the Federal Fire Service had ignored the committee’s summons thrice, while other affected MDAs did so twice each. He warned that the latter group had one week to appear before the committee or face sanctions.
Salam highlighted the consequences for public officers failing to respond satisfactorily to the Auditor-General’s queries within the stipulated time frames. Such officers may face surcharge, transfer to another schedule, or be handed over to anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Concluding his remarks, Salam emphasized that the committee had various assignments ahead, with the COVID-19 probe being just one aspect. The committee aims to swiftly address these matters and move on to its other responsibilities.
