₦3.26bn in Revenue and Account Irregularities Uncovered Under Mr Abdullahi O. Attah as Chairman – Secrets Reporters Nigeria

Secrets Reporters

Behind the figures that pass quietly through government accounts lies the story of public money that must be accounted for down to the last Naira, and a review of the financial records of the FCT Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), Abuja, under the leadership of Mr Abdullahi O. Attah, by SecretsReporters has raised questions over more than ₦3.26 billion in transactions and revenue management during 2020.

The review identified three issues totalling ₦3,260,602,195.79, with the largest involving ₦3.14 billion collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on behalf of the FCT-IRS and reported as having been remitted directly to the FCT Administration Treasury without receipt or other documentary evidence presented to support the transfer.

The review also identified ₦111.59 million transferred between accounts under the generic description “Account to Account Transfer” without supporting details, while another ₦11.74 million was identified as an unexplained understatement arising from discrepancies between the opening and closing balances of the FCT-IRS Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) operations account.

The largest issue concerned ₦3,137,267,915.42 collected by FIRS in 2020 and reported as part of the FCT-IRS’s total tax revenue for the year.

According to the review, the amount was said to have been remitted directly to the FCTA Treasury, but no receipt or other documentary evidence was produced to substantiate the remittance. The review also found that no tax-by-tax breakdown of the amount was provided.

The action is in violation of paragraphs 202 and 619 of the Financial Regulations 2009, with the risk of loss or diversion of government funds.

In response, FCT-IRS explained that collections received by FIRS on behalf of the Service were remitted directly to the Federal Capital Territory Administration through the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The Service stated that because the funds were remitted directly to the FCTA, “no receipt was issued or sent to FCT-IRS.”

The review further identified a transaction involving ₦111,591,879.27 moved to another account under the generic description “Account to Account Transfer.”

It was found that no supporting details were provided to explain the transaction and identified the absence of adequate documentation as a risk to public funds, including the potential loss or diversion of government money. The issue was examined under paragraph 807 of the Financial Regulations 2009.

FCT-IRS, however, explained that the transaction resulted from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s reporting format introduced in October 2020.

According to the service, a debit amount under the CBN reporting system could represent either a single batch payment or the aggregate of several batch payments processed through Remita’s mandate.

It explained that the ₦111,591,879.27 represented the sum of multiple batch payments presented to Remita for disbursement.

Also uncovered was an ₦11,742,401.10 discrepancy in the reconciliation of FCT-IRS’s CBN operations account.

According to the findings, the account’s closing balance on 31 August 2020 stood at ₦3,838,430,572.77, while the opening balance recorded for 1 September 2020 was ₦3,827,350,494.11, leaving an unexplained difference.

A similar discrepancy occurred between the balances recorded for 31 October and 1 November 2020, resulting in an overall understatement of ₦11,742,401.10. This action is not in line with paragraph 716 of the Financial Regulations 2009, with the  action risking loss of government revenue and difficulties in funding the budget.

In its response, FCT-IRS said it had written to the CBN Branch Controller requesting reconciliation and rectification of the differences in the account balances for August, September, and October 2020.