The House of Representatives on Wednesday queried irregularities in the registration of subsidiary companies under the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) which led to the loss of N10 billion.
Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke (APC-Lagos), issued the query during an interactive session with Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) alongside other agencies who appeared before the committee for an interactive session on the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)/ Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
Speaking during the session, Hon. Faleke alleged that documents before the Committee showed that two subsidiary companies under NIPOST were registered under individual names as shareholders instead of the Federal Government, wondering why that was so since NIPOST is a Federal Government asset.
He said the registration of the two subsidiary companies namely, NIPOST Property Company Ltd and NIPOST Logistics were done with individuals as shareholders.
Faleke also raised issues over the approval and withdrawals of N10 billion for the purpose of the registration of the subsidiary companies.
“Is NIPOST part of your asset? I have a document before me. The registration of NIPOST Property Development Company Ltd. I saw that the shareholders of these companies are individuals. Okoh Alexander Ayoola, Adeyemi Alexander, Aliyu Halima; these are personal names. Are people allowed to register NIPOST property in their personal names?
“I also have NIPOST Logistics also registered in personal names. I want to know from you; did you give CAC permission to register Nigerian assets in personal names; some of them were working as civil servants and some of them have retired.
“Are you also aware that N10 bilion was approved and withdrawn to be used for the set up of these entities and that same N10 billion came in and also went out in the name of NIPOST from an account opened as NIPOST property. Are you aware of that?”
In his response, MOFI Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Armstrong Takang, who confirmed the illegal withdrawal of the fund, solicited for the support of the Committee in the bid to nip the irregularities in the bud.
“The question you raised is precisely why this committee needs to partner with us in addressing irregularities in our system. That is one example, there are many cases. The simple answer is simply no; for a federal government entity, the shareholders must be registered under MOFI.
“This was recently brought to my attention and we are on it. We have sent a letter to CAC through the Federal Ministry of Finance that they should not register any shareholder in government entity other than MOFI. That is the only way in the eyes of the law that government can claim such property.
“We did also indicate in that letter that whenever any one wants to register a commercial entity for the Federal Government, they ought to request for a letter of ‘No Objections’ from MOFI to ensure that the registration process does not in any way undermine what the law states as far as ownership of government interest is. Clearly, that is what that is,” he said.
On the issue of N10 billion reportedly approved and withdrawn for processing the NIPOST subsidiary companies, Dr. Takang said the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) would be in the best position to answer that.
He said: “I will defer that question to BPE because BPE supervised the process for unbundling of NIPOST to those two entities which is Logistics Company and Property Development Company.”
In a related development, Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein explained the Federal Government is doing everything possible to block revenue leakages and shore up the revenue of the government to meet its needs.
. TheWitness
