Multi-billion fake audit clearance to police, others: AGF disowns directors

The Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Samuel Ukura, has disowned the several clearance certificates purportedly issued to the Nigeria Police and some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government over the audit queries raised against them over the years, involving several billions of naira, saying such certificates never emanated from him and that they were “fake and illegal.”
The AGF, who made the clarification when he appeared before the Honourable Solomon Olamilekan Adeola-led House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts which summoned him last week to appear before it over some questionable clearance certificates issued to the police on queries raised against the organisation, said that once the document had been laid before the National Assembly, no officer had the power to issue any clearance again.
He explained that if a query had been raised against any ministry, agency or organisation and the query had been laid before the National Assembly and they later come up with additional documentation to defend such a query and the documentation are convincing, it was then that the AGF would personally write to the Parliament with such additional information to advise for the clearance of such a query.
According to him, “the said clearance certificates are not from me. I have never directed any officer to give any clearance certificate to anybody. I am not aware that such a thing was happening because that is not the normal procedure. Once the audit report had been laid before the parliament, it can never be altered again from our office. If there is additional or fresh information or documentation brought to us, if they are convincing enough, I will have to write to bring such development to the notice of the parliament.”
He, however, assured the committee that thorough investigation would be carried out on the ugly development to fish out all the officers involved, with a view to taking disciplinary action against them in line with the Civil Service Rules and Regulations so as to serve as deterrent to others.
The committee had last week walked out of its sitting an Assistant Director, Mr A A  Alebiosu of the office of the AGF for allegedly withholding vital information on the clearance certificates issued to the police in 2013 over the queries issued to the organisation in the 2010 financial year which he claimed was in order, but which one of his subordinates present at the sitting quickly debunked.
The committee members, who spoke in turns decried the attitudes of the Assistant Director for allegedly shielding some of the MDAs from being nailed based on the queries issued against them with fake clearance certificates.
Honourable Adeola said that the committee decided to summon the AGF when it became suspicious of the clearance certificates being issued to the MDAs especially the police where about 10 of such were discovered during their defence of their queries.
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