₦8.4 Million in Staff Payments at National Institute for Sports Funneled Through Proxies Under Philip Shaibu’s Watch

Secrets Reporters 

Documents reviewed by SecretsReporters have revealed that the National Institute for Sports, Lagos, paid a total of ₦8,406,530.00 in sundry expenditure to its own staff through proxies rather than directly into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts during the 2023 financial year, a direct breach of the Federal Government’s e-payment policy.

The payments, which were meant for staff of the Institute, were instead routed through third parties, raising serious questions about whether the money ever reached the intended beneficiaries. No evidence was produced to show that the ₦8,406,530.00 actually got to the staff members it was meant for.

At the time these payments were made, Comrade Philip Shaibu was  and still is the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Sports. The financial year in question, 2023, falls squarely under his leadership of the Institute.

Paragraph 4(vii) of Treasury Circular Ref. No. TRY/A8 & B8/2008/OAGF/CAD/026/Vol.II/465 of 22 October 2008 is clear: every Federal Government employee must hold a commercial bank account into which all payments due to them are made directly. The Institute’s decision to use proxies stands in direct violation of this directive.

More troubling still, Paragraph 713 of the Financial Regulations 2009 states that an officer who pays public money into a private account outside the proper channel is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention. Paragraph 613 also requires every paying officer to satisfy themselves that the person claiming payment is the person actually authorised to receive it, a requirement that appears to have been ignored in this case.

When confronted with the finding, the Institute’s management responded that it had noted the observation and effected the necessary corrections.