Permanent Secretary Risks Arrest Over Missing N113m 

The Nigerian Senate says it will issue a warrant of arrest against the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. 

This is in reaction to the failure of the ministry’s Director of Cash Departments to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, which requested documents related to the disbursement of Service Wide Votes and seeks clarification on missing N113m on salary adjustment for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). According to the committee’s chairman, Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South), there have been three invites to the Director to appear before the committee, but all have been ignored. 

How did the funds get missing? 

That’s still unclear. While the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) told the Senate Committee that the N113m was released to JAMB in May 2017 for salary augmentation, JAMB says it did not receive the funds. JAMB’s Director of Finance and Administration, Mufutau Bello, told the Committee that the N113m was not released to them, and argued that if the money was released, it would have cut across the whole year. Senator Urhoghide gave the Permanent Secretary 48 hours to appear before the committee and provide the relevant documents or risk arrest.