Let’s praise, not condemn, Auditor-General for exposing Oronsaye’s alleged corruption, group says

The Society for Accountability and Good Governance, says the report of the Special Audit of the Accounts of Civil Passion by the Office of Auditor- General for the Federation deserves commendation rather than criticisms.

In a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, Austin Aliyu, the director of the society, noted that the report gave an insight into past activities of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation that indicted the head of the office, Stephen Oronsaye.

“It is this report that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is holding on to in addressing some allegations levelled against Orosanye.

“It is worrisome to observe that in spite of the importance of the report to the ongoing fight against corruption, some groups are calling for the removal of Auditor-General for the Federation Samuel Ukura.

“Calling for the removal of the Auditor-General for the Federation is being sponsored by some people who are afraid of the ongoing anti-corruption crusade and all efforts must be made to discourage such moves,’’ the statement said.

The society said it was not logical that the auditor-general, who mastermind the special auditing in 2011, would also attempt to subvert, suppress or falsify some evidences in the contents as alleged by the critics.

The society insisted that since the report was referred to as an audit investigation, it would not follow the 90-day specification for reports to be submitted to the National Assembly as claimed by some groups.

“That is why it is called a special report. Investigations do not follow the 90-day specification because it must be done conclusively so it does not become a witch hunt exercise.

It also cautioned against the abuse of the application of the Freedom of Information Act.

He said that since the report had been submitted to the National Assembly, any person looking for it should obtain it at the appropriate place.

The society also urged the critics to note that the National Assembly, EFCC and KPMG did similar investigations before that of the Office of Auditor-General for the Federation.

“If everyone is now seeking the report of the Office of Auditor-General for the Federation only for a prosecution, then it leaves much to be desired.

“The public should also be told the outcomes of those celebrated reports and forensic investigations conducted at huge cost to taxpayers,’’ the society insisted.

PREMIUM TIMES had in September 2014 exposed a damning reportby the Office of the Auditor-General detailing the alleged involvement of Mr. Oronsaye in a N123billion fraud when he served as head of service between 2009 and 2010.

According to the report, entitled “Special Audit of the Accounts of Civil Pension,” Mr. Oronsaye was alleged to have presided over the looting of public funds during his tenure.

However, shortly after the story was published, the Auditor-General circulated statements and bought spaces in some major Nigerian newspapers to disown the report produced by his own office.

In the advertorials, Mr. Ukura claimed there was no such report as cited by PREMIUM TIMES in its story.
To counter Mr. Ukura’s claim, PREMIUM TIMES, in a subsequent story, made public the executive summary of the report indicting Mr. Oronsaye.

This newspaper also challenged the Auditor-General, who was apparently under pressure from unknown quarters to disown the report, to explain why he refused to dispatch the report to the National Assembly two years after it was produced even though he was required by law to do so within 90 days.

But after months of deceit and cover ups, Mr. Ukura has now admitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that his office was indeed in possession of the report cited by this newspaper in its report.

The Auditor-General’s admission was contained in a June 25 letter to the EFCC.

The letter, with reference number 158/GEN.CORR/AGF/IV/87, reads:
“Your letter dated 25th June 2015 Ref. No. CR 3000/EFCC/ABJ/CTGI.ADMIN/Vol 2/ refers.

“I hereby forward a certified copy of the “Report of the Auditor General for the Federation on the Special Audit of the Accounts of the Civil Pension for the period 2005 to 2010 Financial Years.

“This covers pages (1) one to (179) One hundred and seventy-nine as requested.

“A similar copy has already been forwarded to the National Assembly for their necessary action.
“Please accept the assurances of my highest regard.”

Mr. Ukura then attached and forwarded to the EFCC a Certified True Copy of a report he claimed didn’t exist.
The AGF’s letter and the audit report he forwarded to the EFCC has since been admitted by the Court as Exhibit 296 in the corruption case against Mr. Oronsaye.

On July 26,  a coalition of anti-corruption groups in the country, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari to demand the immediate removal from office and prosecution of  Mr. Ukura, accusing him of criminal cover up and shielding of Mr.  Oronsaye.

In its petition dated July 23, 2015, CSNAC urged the President to urgently remove Mr. Ukura from office and subsequently order his prosecution for attempting to conceal and protect officials accused of graft.

“Such an officer as Mr. Ukura cannot and should not be allowed to hold such sensitive position as the Auditor- General of the Federation at this critical point,” the anti-corruption group said in a statement by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju.
“His (Mr. Ukura’s) actions to conceal and deny the existence of a report, clearly exposes a breach of his oath of office, cowardice, insincerity and professional misconduct,” Mr. Suraju noted.