Metallurgical Institute Onitsha Faces ₦472.5m Investigation Queries Over Inventory, Mobilisation Payments

Secrets Reporters

The 2023 financial records of the Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha, have come under scrutiny following an investigation queries involving transactions worth about ₦472.5 million.

The Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha, is responsible for training and developing technical manpower for the metallurgical and related industrial sectors. Proper financial controls are therefore important in ensuring that resources allocated to the institution are properly managed.

The queries cover four areas, including the failure to record store items in the appropriate ledger, the payment of mobilisation fees without the required guarantee, payments made without adequate supporting documents and cash advances that were not retired.

One of the major issues identified in the records concerns store items valued at ₦251.33 million. The items were reportedly not entered in the store ledger, making it difficult to establish from the records when they were received, where they were kept or how they were eventually used.

The investigation also raised questions over ₦208.59 million paid to a contractor as mobilisation fees. The payment was made without the advance payment guarantee required to protect the funds in the event of a failure to execute the contract.

In another finding, ₦11.7 million was disbursed without sufficient supporting documents to show the basis for the payments. The records reportedly lacked the relevant vouchers, receipts or other documents needed to properly account for the transactions.

The investigation further identified an unretired cash advance of ₦953,900. The money was given to personnel, but there was no evidence in the records showing that the advance had subsequently been retired or properly accounted for. These findings raise concerns about the institute’s compliance with established financial and procurement procedures. Under the Financial Regulations, public stores are expected to be properly recorded and accounted for, while procurement rules require appropriate safeguards when mobilisation payments are made to contractors.