The Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Samuel Ukura has revealed that Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) cannot account for N183.7 billion spent between 2008 and 2012 following a special audit that was conducted.
The AGF disclosed this while speaking with reporters yesterday after submitting three reports to the National Assembly.
Ukura added that his office submitted the environmental audit on the drying up of Lake Chad and special periodic checks on the activities and programmes of the NDDC.
He said a lot of discrepancies were noticed in the NDDC accounts with about N183.7 billion expected to be refunded to the federation account.
A breakdown of what the NDDC will return to the Federation Account, Ukura said, includes the N70.4 billion unaccounted for from the mobilisation of various contractors that never reported to site; the N5.8 billion paid to contractors for projects not executed or abandoned; N90.5 billion spent on extra-budgetary expenditure without approval by legal authorities; N1.2 billion undeducted taxes from contractors; N10.07 billion to be refunded as tax deductions made without evidence of remittance to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); N3.1 billion transferred to unauthorised accounts and unaccountable staff advances of N1.7 billion.
Ukura said: “It is our belief that all the money spent by the government if it was properly spent in the region, Niger Delta would be a better place.”
He added that N785 million of N1.1 billion allegedly paid to the contractors for the supply of furniture to various schools in Delta State was also unaccounted for.
The Auditor-General noted that additional details of their findings are contained in the report he submitted to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Salisu Maikasuwa.