Ugwuanyi admin to deny subventions to 33 firms over negligence to deliver audited accounts for up to 17 years – Auditor General
The Enugu State Government has announced that it will refuse further subventions and grants to 33 state-owned companies, parastatals and other statutory bodies over failure to submit their audited annual accounts, some as far as 1991, in line with the provisions of Section 125, sub-section 3 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Speaking with SummitNews in Enugu, the State Auditor-General, Dr. Livinus Okoro, expressed displeasure over the persistent failure of the affected firms to audit and submit their annual accounts to his office, adding that the state government will be compelled to withhold furthera subventions and grants to the erring firms.
He reiterated that the action of the firms violates Section 125, sub-section 3 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution which mandates such bodies to produce their audited annual accounts and forward them to the auditor general for review and comments.
He, however, revealed that about six of the affected institutions including the Enugu State Tourism Board, and the Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT), have started complying with the requirements of the law.
SummitNews recalls that the report of the Enugu State Auditor-General on the accounts of the Government of Enugu State of Nigeria for the year ended 31st December, 2020, which was released in April 2021, showed that thirty-three state-owned firms were yet to submit their audited accounts, some of them between ten and seventeen years.
However, some of the affected institutions visited by SummitNews to get their reactions on the issue feigned ignorance of the existence of the reports of the auditor-general on the accounts of the Enugu state Government which indicted the thirty-three firms.
For instance, the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Institute of Management & Technology (IMT), Enugu, Barrister Mark Eze, said he was unaware of the existence of such a report, and, therefore, not in a position to offer any comment on the issue.
According to the 2020 auditor-general’s report, the IMT is in arrears of three years (1917 – 2020).
Similarly, an official of Nike Lake Protea Hotel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told SummitNews that the 2020 auditor-general’s report was yet to be brought to the knowledge of the hotel’s management.
Nevertheless, the official explained that most of the affected firms neither have qualified internal auditors to audit their annual accounts, nor the money to engage external auditors to do the job.
Though the state auditor-general agreed that some of the affected firms lacked qualified internal auditors, he, however, said the state Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was disposed to providing money to such organisations to pay external auditors to ensure that the right thing is done.
“In the year under review, list of qualified firms of auditors that registered with the Office were sent to the various boards, commissions, government-owned companies, parastatals and other agencies established by law to enable them prepare their accounts.
“However, only very few of these bodies as usual presented their audited accounts for review in spite of grants and subventions approved to them.
“Notwithstanding the situation above, this Office has on an interval basis carried out periodic checks on these bodies to keep them abreast with the provisions of the law,” said the 2020 report.
According to our Corrrespondent, the much acclaimed West Africa’s first steel plant, Niger Steel Company Limited, located at Emene, near Enugu, has been overtaken by weeds despite the state government’s effort to breathe life into the ailing company.
“There is nothing going on here …you can see that all the buildings have been taken over by weeds,” said a seemingly beleaguered security man when our Correspondent requested to see the company’s chief executive officer.
In 2013, the Enugu state Ministry of Commerce and Industry in conjunction with the National Privatisation Council, set out to fast track agreement/Memorandum of Understanding and all necessary documents to commercialise ailing industries in the state such as Niger Steel Company, Niger Gas, Sun Rise Flower Mill, Aluminum factory at Ohebe Dim, AVOP Nachi, Hotel Presidential, Enugu, and Oghe Cashew Industry.
SummitNews recalls that several millions of Naira was provided for in the 2013 budget of Enugu state for the seamless execution of this exercise, but it seems that nothing was achieved in that direction.
It seems also that the state government has been extending grants and subventions to the ailing companies slated for commercialisation, even when they are non-functional or productive.
According to the 2020 Enugu state government audit report, Niger Steel Company Limited, and Niger Gas Company, also located in Emene, have both not submitted their audited reports in the past 17 years.
Dr Okoro appealed to the media to assist his office to educate the concerned government establishments on the need to account for public money made available to them, saying that to do otherwise “smacks of absolute disregard to transparency and accountability which hallmarks good governance.”
The Enugu State Auditor General’s 2020 report lists the erring MDAs in a tabulation.
Sn Name of parastatals, tertiary institutions, boards, and companies Outstanding years of unaudited account
1 Enugu State University of Science & Technology 2018-2020
2 Pilgrim Welfare Christian Board 1996-2020
3 Enugu State Housing Development Corporation 2017-2020
4 Enugu State Transport Company 2010-2020
5 Niger Steel Company Ltd 2003-2020
6 Community Development Coordinating Council 2003-2020
7 Rural Electrification Board 1991-2020
8 Post-Primary Schools Management Board 2019-2020
9` Agency for Mass Literacy 2003-2020
10 Enugu State Council for Arts and Culture 2003-2020
11 Awgu Games Village 2003-2020
12 Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board 2020
13 Tourism Board, Enugu 1992-2020
14 Institute of Management and Technology 2017-2020
15 Niger Gas Company Ltd 2003-2020
16 Enugu State Water Corporation 2015-2020
17 Enugu State Library Board 2002-2020
18 Ada Rice Project 2003-2020
19 Enugu State Gaming Commission 1999-2020
20 United Palm Ltd 1999-2020
21 Enugu State Science and Technical Vocational Board 2007-2020
22 Enugu State College of Education (Technical) 2017-2020
23 Nigeria Construction and Furniture Company 2008-2020
24 Premier Cashew Industry Oghe 2018-2020
25 Nike Lake Protea Hotel 2018-2020
26 Sunrise Flour Mills Ltd 1999-2020
27 Enugu State Waste Management Authority 2010-2020
28 Enugu State Broadcasting Service 2010-2020
29 Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo 2016-2020
30 Agency for Legal Aid Council 2007-2020
31 Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) 2015-2020
32 Enugu State Scholarship Board 2007-2020
33 Rangers Management Corporation 2010-2020
