CACOL tells Buhari to recover N450bn unremitted funds punish culprits

The Federal Government of Nigeria has declared that it is set to prosecute officials of revenue generating agencies indicted in an audit report disclosing that N450 billion was not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account.

Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, revealed that the report of the special audit carried out on 33 revenue generating agencies showed serious infractions in some of the agencies. The Minister, according to media reports, also claimed that N450bn was recoverable from the agencies as unremitted funds for 2010 to 2015 fiscal period.

Stemming from this development, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, has called for judicial actions to be taken against those found culpable whilst urging that the case should not be taken with levity. The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran stated that it’s a manifestation of the state of decadence in the public institutions and agencies, while also calling for the law to run its full-course.”

He said, “It is a heart-rending reality that corruption has set its roots in every institution in the country. It is even more worrisome that the virus called ‘corruption’ has been allowed to fester for too long and now seems to overwhelm the country as a whole.”

Some of the agencies are the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, National Health Insurance Scheme, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and Nigerian Communication Commission.

Adeniran called on the President to show commitment to the people especially in the fight against corruption, he said, “this development goes further to show how deeply seated the cankerworm has eaten into the fabric of every facet of our body polity. It’s so deep seated that no arm of government or institution is extricable from the corrupt practices. The revelation of the 450bn naira buttresses CACOL’s position that civil service is soaked in institutionalized corruption.

“It is public knowledge that corruption is almost institutionalized in the Civil Service to the extent that Civil Servants are euphemistically described as ‘Evil Servants’, emanating from the experience of most Nigerians or foreigners that have had one thing or the other to do with the Civil servants and the Civil Service.

“Nigerians have quietly endured this situation for too long. And we know the 33 agencies involved in this case is just ‘a tip of the iceberg’, if the investigations, probes, prosecution are continued with the necessary vigour, many more ‘cans of worms’ will be opened.”

Adeniran averred that, “It is not enough to announce to the public that N450bn was not remitted to the Federal Government from 2010 to 2015, we expect actions to be taken against those who failed to stick to operational guidelines and convictions against those found to be culpable.

“The scope of the auditing should be widened in spread; the FG must immediately involve the EFCC, ICPC and other relevant agencies and sustain the ongoing effort with a view of fishing out the culprits to face justice.”