Lower Benue River Basin Authority Commits Financial Offence For Making ₦31.2 Million Ghost Payment

Secrets Reporters 

The Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, Makurdi, paid ₦31,272,426.47 to eight beneficiaries for services purportedly rendered in 2023, but failed to provide documents required to verify the payments according to a document obtained by SecretsReporters 

Engr. Mahmoud O. Adra was the Managing Director of the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority during the 2023 financial year covered by the document.

The payments were contained in eight separate vouchers reviewed during the audit of the Authority’s financial activities for the year under review.

According to the examined findings, the vouchers did not contain key supporting documents such as store receipt vouchers, invoices, certificates of attendance or other relevant records that could establish the nature of the services for which the funds were paid. The absence of the documents made it difficult for the auditors to independently verify whether the services stated in the payment vouchers were actually rendered.

The review referenced Paragraph 603(i) of the Financial Regulations 2009, which requires payment vouchers to contain full particulars of the services rendered and relevant supporting documents sufficient to allow the payments to be checked without relying on other records. The examiners also cited Paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which prohibits payment for services that have not been performed or goods that have not been supplied. In response to the finding, the management of the Authority reportedly stated that the supporting documents had been attached to the affected payment vouchers.

The financial review further classified the matter under Paragraph 3106 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which deals with irregular or wrong payments. As part of the recommendations, the Authority’s management was directed to account for the ₦31,272,426.47 before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee. It was also directed to recover and remit the amount to the Treasury and provide evidence of the remittance.

The finding relates to transactions carried out during the 2023 financial year. The leadership of the Authority has since changed, following a subsequent Federal Government exercise that reconstituted the management teams of Nigeria’s 12 River Basin Development Authorities, including the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority.