EXCLUSIVE: Provost Faruk Haruna’s College Left ₦5 Billion in Property Uninsured, Paid Contractor in Full for Unfinished Job With ₦5.3 Billion Uncovered in Financial Irregularities

Secrets Reporters

The Federal College of Education, Kontagora, under the leadership of Provost Prof. Faruk Rashid Haruna, recorded ₦5,369,299,559.69 in financial irregularities across four separate findings during the 2023 financial year, documents obtained by SecretsReporters reveal.

Prof. Haruna has served as Provost since 10 April 2018, spanning the entirety of the 2023 financial year covered by all four findings, and continues in the role today.

₦5 Billion in Government Property Left Uninsured.

Buildings, plant, equipment and motor vehicles worth ₦5,000,000,000.00, acquired by the College over the years, were never insured against any hazard. The College could produce no evidence of insuring any of its properties against loss.

Section 7(d) of the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 requires adequate protection of strategic government assets, while Section 68 of the same Act prohibits the use of any vehicle, including government vehicles, on Nigerian roads unless third-party liability is insured with a registered insurer.

Paragraph 3129 of the Financial Regulations 2009, covering gross misconduct, applies to this finding.

₦250,000,000.00 was released to the College and recorded in its financial statements as “Provisional Sum for Exigencies,” with no evidence of utilisation. No vote-book, cashbook, or payment voucher revealing a subhead called “Exigencies Item” existed to explain the money’s purpose, and no expenditure return was ever rendered to the Accountant-General or the Auditor-General to account for it.

Section 80(4) of the 1999 Constitution prohibits withdrawal of public funds except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.

Paragraphs 3106 and 3115 of the Financial Regulations 2009, covering irregular payment and failure to manage public funds effectively, apply to this finding.

₦20 Million Internally Generated Revenue Never Remitted.

₦20,024,559.69 in internally generated revenue was never remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, in breach of Paragraph 236 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which requires such revenue to reach the CRF by the 15th of the month following its collection.

₦99 Million Contract Paid in Full for Unfinished Job

A ₦99,275,000.00 contract, entered under agreement letter CA 016/2022, saw its contractor paid a 51% mobilisation fee of ₦50,715,785.76 against the 30% ceiling Section 71(i) of the Finance Act 2020 permits, and even then only against an unconditional bank guarantee or insurance bond.

The advance payment guarantee the contractor submitted was never verified by the College before payment was released. The contractor was paid in full without completing the job.