An anti-corruption civil society organization, the Elites Network for Sustainable Development, (ENetSuD), has frowned at the spending of N6,265,010, 819.98 by the Kwara State Government in the year 2020 without relevant expenditure receipts.
In the 2020 Citizens’ Accountability Report published by the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Finance, Folorunsho Abdulrazaq, ten (10) Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) were listed as the top queried public fund spenders with no expenditure receipts.
A statement signed by Saeed Tijjani, ENetSuD's Press Secretary noted that a total of five hundred and ninety-two (592) audit queries amounting to N6,265,010,819.98 were raised by the state’s Auditor General in the 2020 Financial year.
The Coordinator of the CSO, Abdullateef Alagbonsi, expressed shock that the office of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq is the top culprit having spent N2,054,211,929.13 without having relevant expenditure receipt.
In 2020, the Governor’s office reportedly received a total of 166 audit queries from the Office of the Auditor General of the state.
The statement reads partly, “The next to the Governor’s Office in the rank of spending public fund without receipt is the Government House that received 95 audit queries for spending N1,500,327,577.70 also without a relevant expenditure receipt.
“Other MDAs that spent without a receipt are Ministry of Works and Transport (N1,296,239, 007.94), Ministry of Environment (N62,378,218.04), Ministry of Finance and Planning (N262, 387,983.97), Ministry of Youths and Sports (N156,732,009.84).
“The list also includes the Office of the Head of Service (N293, 248, 899.16), Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development (N75, 795, 000), Ministry of Energy (N153, 764, 042.83), and Ministry of Water Resources (N409, 926, 151.37).
“ENetSuD charged the Kwara State House of Assembly to, as a matter of urgency and in the public interest, carry out its constitutional duty by carrying out a robust, extensive, and thorough investigation on how the KWSG spent the money.
“ENetSuD reminds the KWHA that failure to do its duty and report its findings to the public whose taxes are being spent without due process will not go well with Kwara citizens that they represent in the hallowed chamber.”
Original Author: SaharaReporters, New York