The
Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla, said on Friday
that the payment of N127.8bn to ‘unknown entities’ in 2009 by his
predecessor has a link with the Petroleum Product Price Regulatory
Agency.
Otunla said the account that contained the
said N127.8bn was owned and operated by the PPPRA, from which the
marketers were paid.
The AGF said this in response to the House
of Representatives’ report on the payment of N999m instalments for 128
times, which amounted to N127.8bn.
The House revelation had triggered national outrage with a call for the prosecution and jailing of the culprits.
Otunla stated this through the Assistant
Director in charge of Public Relations in his office, Mr. Hassan Dodo,
in a telephone interview in Abuja.
The House committee led by Mr. Farouk Lawan
had in its report, said a “particular accountant-general that served
during the period in 2009 made payments of equal instalments of N999m
for a record of 128 times within 24hours on the 12th and 13th of
January, 2009, totalling N127.872bn.”
The AGF, therefore, urged the committee to
demand from the Central Bank of Nigeria details of the organisation that
issued the payment instruments.
Dodo said, “On the allegation that the OAGF
paid N127.8bn within 24hours to unknown beneficiaries by paying of
N999m in 128 times within a day to ‘unknown entities,’ the OAGF is
neither the owner nor the operator of the account where the oil
marketers were paid.
“The account is owned and operated by the
PPPRA. This office, therefore, suggests that the House could demand from
the CBN the details and the organisation that issued the payment
instruments. This will confirm that they were issued by the PPPRA and
not the OAGF.”
He said the traditional role of the OAGF
was to release funds to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of
government on the approval of the minister of finance.
In the case of oil subsidy payment, Dodo
said the PPPRA computed subsidy payable to oil marketers on batch basis,
and then forwarded same to the minister of finance for approval.
Upon approval, he said the computed figure
was forwarded to the OAGF to transfer the approved amount to the account
of the PPPRA maintained at the CBN.
However, a source in PPPRA, who preferred anonymity, said on Friday that the agency was studying the report.
“We’ve seen the report by the House; we’re studying it and we will make an appropriate response in due time,” the source said.
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