The Federal Government has ordered the probe of past heads of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency over poor remittances to the Federal Government’s accounts in the past.
The decision was taken by the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who briefed the council about the performances of some government agencies, said JAMB for the first time remitted N5bn to the government’s coffers with a promise to pay the balance of N3bn compared to the maximum N3m per annum remitted in the past.
JAMB had in July announced the remittance of N5bn to the Federal Government which happens to be the highest so far in the last 40 years of its existence.
FEC also hailed the new Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, for improving the fortunes and remittances of the agency to the Federal Government.
Adeosun said the disparity in the remittances of the two agencies in the past had necessitated the decision to probe all previous heads of the two agencies.
The minister also disclosed that other agencies with similar discrepancies in their revenue remittances would be probed.
The two immediate past directors-general of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi and Haruna Jauro, are already standing trial for alleged diversion of billions of naira.
Another former DG of NIMASA, Raymond Omatseye, was convicted for fraud to the tune of N1.5bn by a Federal High Court last year. His conviction was, however, upturned by the Appeal Court in May 2017.
With this development, the immediate past Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, will also be probed.
Adeosun revealed that the council specifically directed the ministry of finance to look into the past revenue remittances of JAMB and NIMASA.
“The highest amount that JAMB had ever remitted into the consolidated revenue fund before this management was N3m.
“This year so far they have done N5bn and the Minister of Education reported that they have an additional N3bn that they are ready to remit which will take this year’s figure alone to N8bn and they have not increased their charges, they have not increased their fees.
“So, the question the council members were asking was, where was all this money before?
“So, the directive was given that we must call the former heads of all these agencies and similar ones to account (for their financial dealings), and that is the directive we have been given and that is what we intend to do and it is a similar story with other agencies.
“These are the leakages which we have now come in and we are blocking,’’ she said.
Punch
