The House of Representatives on Wednesday vowed to ensure that all Federal Institutions strictly comply with the provisions of the 2024 Appropriation Act, as approved by the National Assembly.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Bamidele Salam, disclosed this during a three-day oversight function and investigative hearing on the implementation of budgetary allocations by some Federal Government-owned institutions across Lagos State and the South West region.
In his remarks, Hon. Salam assured that the Committee was not out to witch-hunt any Ministry, Department, or Agency but to ensure that Nigerians get value for their money.
He stressed the need for all public institutions to account for their stewardship in utilizing taxpayers’ money and warned that the Committee would not tolerate any form of violations.
He also threatened that appropriate sanctions, as stipulated in the extant financial regulations and laws, would be meted out against defaulters.
While responding to the presentation made by the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye, the lawmakers quizzed him over various alleged financial and regulatory infractions.
The lawmakers, visibly angry over the recurring non-remittance of Internally Generated Revenue by the management of the institution, queried Dr. Owoeye for engaging in extra-budgetary spending and non-adherence to financial regulations, thereby contravening several sections of the financial regulations.
The Committee also frowned upon the hospital’s employment practices, which failed to comply with the federal character principle.
The Committee demanded that the hospital account for contract sums totaling N422.3 million, as well as the spending of N50.3 million on staff training.
However, Dr. Owoeye’s explanations fell short of the Committee’s expectations, which therefore requested records of all the contracts paid for, completed, and ongoing.
The CMD also stated that the 500-bed facility, established in 1907, is in urgent need of support to enable it to deliver on its mandate.
LUTH, on the other hand, was represented by its Medical Director, Prof. Lanre Adeyemo, who led his team of staff. He explained that his hospital is also undergoing challenges that have made its operations very difficult, particularly issues with power supply, which remains a significant challenge.
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He noted that the cost of powering the hospital was, at one point, over N181 million monthly until the federal government deployed 300 solar panels.
He was grilled on non-remittance of IGR, discrepancies in Remita payments amounting to over N2 billion, and extra-budgetary spending without approval amounting to N150.3 billion in the period under review.
He was also questioned on the untidy work by the LUTH tender board and the contravention of the circular on non-payment of staff’s professional membership fees, among other sundry issues.
His justification of the issues under probe did not convince the Committee, which therefore requested necessary evidence on approvals, spending, and adherence to financial regulations.
In its ruling on the matters, the Committee resolved that all the excuses rendered in explaining the contraventions did not hold water and could not be tolerated. They stated that these actions amounted to gross violations of extant laws.
Both hospitals complained about personnel loss due to the “japa syndrome” and the untimely release of budgetary allocations. They called on the Committee to intervene in all their problems to enable them to meet public expectations.
Other MDAs scheduled to appear before the Committee include the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), among others.
