Audit Reports Says N11.9 Billion Stolen From Kwara in 8 Years

Audit Reports Says N11.9 Billion Stolen From Kwara in 8 Years

  • An audit report said that about N11.9 billion have been stolen from the purse of Kwara State government between 2011 to 2019
  • According to the report, the money was spent without proper documentation and filing and did not have any official authorisation
  • The report also stated that N2 billion was withdrawn within eight days and one month before the 2019 election

An audit report says that N11.9 billion in public funds were stolen from Kwara State between 2011 and 2019 without ties to any project or programme.

The Punch says that the Kwara State government commissioned the report. It showed that N2 billion cash withdrawals were made in eight days, one month to the 2019 election, and were unrelated to any project or had official approvals or expenditures.

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Kwara State, Audit Report, AbdulRahaman
Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman Rasaq Credit: Kwara State government
Source: Twitter

Report calls for prosecution of offenders

Rafiu Ajakaiye, the Chief Press Secretary to Kwara state governor, disclosed this on Thursday, September 1, 2022.

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Ajakaiye said the disclosure came at the submission of the report to the state governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, by SSAC and professionals, a consulting firm that conducted the audit.

Anthony Iniomoh, a partner at SSAC and Professional, said the report has two volumes. The report covers Internally Generated Revenue, capital receipts, internal and external loans, recurrent/overhead expenses, personnel cost, capital expenditure, assets disposed of, Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, Infrastructure Fund, Harmony Holdings others.

Inomoh said that a few highlights of the firm’s findings might be important for the records, saying the report unearthed colossal pilfering of N11,961,709, which it suggested be recovered to public coffers.

Governor says report not surprising

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Also, the firm recommends prosecuting some officers and companies and claiming damages on transactions totalling N6,023,358,44.

In volume two of the report, it recommended to the state government the prosecution of some officials and companies indicted in the two volumes of the report.

The state governor said the findings were truly alarming but not surprising, as patterns of those eight years suggested.

Two Nigerian states have highest debt exposure to China as total debt stock hits $100 billion

Recall that Legit.ng reported that as of November last year, two Nigerian states have the highest debt exposure to China, and Nigeria's debt to the Asian country has hit about $3.4b billion.

According to data from Debt Management Office (DMO), the states of Kaduna and Cross River has the highest debt to China, given through China's Exim Bank.

The states are also exposed to lenders like Japan International Corporation (Jica) India and KFW Development Bank.

Source: Legit.ng

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