Secrets Reporters
Public funds allocated to Nigeria’s diplomatic missions are expected to be spent within approved limits and accounted for at the end of each financial year, but a review of the Nigeria Consulate in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, has flagged about ₦394.86 million in financial irregularities involving an unapproved telephone subsidy and funds spent or retained outside approved budgetary arrangements.
The review, covering the Consulate’s financial activities from January 2019 to December 2020, found that ₦55 million was paid as a telephone subsidy to home-based staff without approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters or the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC).
The payment was contrary to Sections 3 and 13 of the NSIWC Act and paragraph 213(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, which regulate the approval and payment of allowances and related benefits to public servants.
The Consulate, however, defended the payment, stating that the telephone subsidy was a statutory entitlement for home-based staff and was intended to facilitate constant communication on official matters. “The telephone subsidy to staff is a statutory right for home-based staff to ensure constant communication on official matters.”
Also discovered was ₦339,860,817.73 involving extra-budgetary expenditure and balances that were not returned to the Treasury at the end of the financial year. According to the findings, the Consulate overspent its approved overhead sub-heads by ₦104,823,249.06, while another ₦53,933,681.39 remained unspent at the end of 2019.
The review further found that ₦181,103,887.28 in personnel cost balances was carried forward and spent in the following year instead of being returned to the Treasury. The combined ₦339,860,817.73 was contrary to Section 80(4) of the Constitution and paragraphs 417, 301, 413(i) and 415 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which regulate the application of appropriated funds, extra-budgetary expenditure and the treatment of unspent balances.
The Consulate disputed the finding concerning the return of unspent funds, stating, “In all our missions abroad, at no time were funds released to missions mopped up at the end of the financial year. This is a new idea and is above the mission to decide.”
The Consulate is headed by an Ambassador/Consul-General, with recommendations addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The identity of the ambassador or consul-general who headed the Bata mission during the specific 2019–2020 review period could not be independently verified from the available records.
