Secrets Reporters
The flow of water may be invisible, but the movement of public funds used to provide it must remain visible, documented, and accountable. In view of this, a review of the financial activities of the FCT Water Board, Abuja, by SecretsReporters has raised concerns over more than ₦1.05 billion in financial transactions, including payments to 25 contractors whose underlying records were withheld, expenditures without supporting documents, and contracts awarded without evidence of due process.
Several issues were identified, with the largest involving ₦968,779,662.50 paid to 25 contractors in 2019, for which the books and records supporting the payments were not made available for review. Other findings included ₦37.11 million in payments without relevant supporting documents, ₦32.73 million paid to contractors without evidence of procurement due process, and millions of naira in unretired cash advances, undocumented training expenditure and store items not entered in the appropriate ledger.
The most significant finding concerned ₦968,779,662.50 paid to 25 contractors in 2019. According to the review, the books and records relating to the contracts were withheld, preventing the verification of the payments and the transactions underlying them. The withholding of the records is contrary to Section 85(2) of the Constitution, Section 38(5) of the Public Procurement Act and paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which provide for access to government financial and procurement records.
The review also flagged ₦37,110,031.50 in payments for which relevant supporting documents were not provided. According to the findings, the payments lacked documents, including invoices, store receipt vouchers, and internal audit certificates, as against paragraphs 708, 603(i) and 415 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which require adequate documentation and certification of government expenditure.
Another ₦32,733,253 was paid to various contractors in 2019 without evidence of the required procurement process. The review found no tender documents, certificates of incorporation, tax clearance certificates or comparative quotations in the files relating to the payments, which is not in line with section 19 of the Public Procurement Act, which establishes requirements for public procurement processes.
₦5,388,650 in cash advances issued in 2019 that remained unretired at the time of the review was also identified, which is not in line with paragraphs 1011(i) and 1420(i) of the Financial Regulations 2009, which provide for accountability and retirement of advances issued to public officers.
The Board also spent ₦6,327,184.28 on staff training, but the review found no attendance certificates or other evidence to establish the beneficiaries or execution of the training activities.
In another finding, the review identified ₦5,042,600 worth of store items purchased through cash advances that were not entered in the store ledger.
The review further noted that the Internal Audit certification forms for the items were dated before the Store Receipt Vouchers they were intended to certify, raising questions about the sequence and validity of the documentation. The failure to record the items is in contrast to paragraphs 2302(ii) and 2402(i) of the Financial Regulations 2009.
Beyond the monetary findings, the review also found that the FCT Water Board had not submitted its audited financial statements for 2018, 2019 and 2020 at the time of the review. The failure to submit the financial statements was contrary to paragraph 3210(v) of the Financial Regulations 2009.
In its response, the Board explained that it is an agency under the Federal Capital Territory Administration and that the appointment of external auditors was the responsibility of the parent ministry through the FCT Audit Office. The Board attributed the delay to the late appointment of external auditors, stating that, by the time of the review, the auditors had submitted draft financial statements for 2018 and 2019, which were being finalised for submission.
