THE National Assembly Service Commission inflated a contract worth N11.647 billion and paid a contractor without approval, according to the 2022 Auditor-General of the Federation Report.

The report said N11.647 billion was paid to a construction company on August 11, 2020, for the construction of the National Assembly Service Commission within 24 months, but contract variation took place without authorisation.

According to the report, “An upward contract review of N6.930 billion, which constitutes more than 50 percent of the initial contract sum, was awarded on 29th November 2023.The review was for the conversion of roof garden to office space.”

The report alleged that no bill of quantity for the upward review was presented for audit examination, revealing that even the bill of quantity presented to the auditors for the first contract amounting to N11.647 billion wasn’t priced or quoted.

“Relevant procurement documents such as the Commission’s Needs Assessment leading to the award, newspaper advertisements, bidding process, contract agreement, bidders’ quotations and minutes of tender board’s meetings, Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval, Bureau of Public Procurement’s Certificate of ‘No Objection’ were not presented for audit.”

Ahmed Kadi Amshi

On February 2, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Mr Ahmed Kadi Amshi as Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission. Also on February 20, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Dr Saviour Enyiekere’s as Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) for a five-year renewable term. Based on this, the contract award happened during the tenure of Mr Amshi.

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The AGF urged the Chairman of the commission to provide a detailed account to the Public Account Committees of the National Assembly, noting that N6.930 billion was the inflated contract sum that must be recovered.

The AGF mandated Mr Amshi, the Chairman at that time, to recover and remit the inflated sum to the treasury, failure of which should attract sanctions related to contract inflation, and unauthorised variation of contracts prescribed in paragraphs 3102 and 3103 of the Fiscal Regulations (2009).

The AGF said the act had led to the loss of government revenue and the inflation of contracts.

Agency puts public funds in private accounts

Similarly, the Legislative Audit Department found that an agency known as the Environmental Health Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) violated Paragraph 713 of the Financial Regulations (2009) by lodging 24 payments totalling N24.944 million into private accounts of staff members from the Constituency Projects Fund Account.

Yakubu Mohammed Baba

According to the AGF, “There was no evidence of the utilization of the funds paid into the private accounts of staff members or explanations on the purpose for the payment of such amount into the individual accounts.” The nation’s chief auditor revealed that payment for such public funds into private bank accounts contravened extant regulations.

The AGF said the anomalies could be ascribed to weaknesses in the internal control system of EHORECON, disclosing that it led to the possibility of irregular transfers and payments as well as diversion of government funds into private accounts. Mr Yakubu Mohammed Baba was the Registrar/CEO of the agency in 2022. He succeeded Dr. Dominic Ojiabor Abonyi.

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The management of the agency gave no response to the AGF query. The AGF recommended that the registrar account to the Public Account Committees of the National Assembly for N22.944 million diverted to private accounts of staff members.

The AGF urged the registrar to recover and remit the amount to the treasury, and forward evidence of remittance to Public Account Committees of the National Assembly.

“Otherwise, sactions relating to irregular payment in Paragraph 3106 of the Financial Regulations (2009) should apply,” the AGF prescribed.

Economy Post earlier reported that the AGF had accused the National Pension Commission (PenCom) of paying N7.261 billion to 2,863 unidentified beneficiaries of deceased Federal Government employees in 2022 through different Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).