INVESTIGATION: Akwa Ibom State Government Spends N114.5bn On Ghost Emergencies

By Ekemini Simon

The scrutiny of the financial statements of Akwa Ibom State between 2008 and 2023 has revealed questionable spending by the Government.

A careful examination of the financial reports from the office of the Accountant General and Budget office of the State for the last 16 years lay bare a revelation that an item tagged “Margin of Increased Cost/Emergency Provision” has served as an outlet to splurge public funds.

Besides the government being unable to provide evidence of what the billions of naira retired through this subhead was used for, there are no known items, programs, and projects that are attributed to the expenses or show value for the billions this budget line has gulped over the years.

The Genesis And Revelation Of Ghost Emergencies

Checks into the budgets and financial statements of the State show that budgeting and subsequent expenditure on this recurrent item “Margin of Increase Cost/Emergency Provision” in the fiscal life of Akwa Ibom State commenced in 2008.

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Financial Anomalies Uncovered: Over 10 Nigerian Ministries Engage In Illegal Transactions

By Archibong Jeremiah

The investigation uncovered financial irregularities involving over 10 Nigerian Ministries engaging in illegal transactions. The MDAs reportedly violated Nigeria’s Financial Regulations, 2009 by paying public funds into personal accounts and engaging in questionable transactions. The investigation highlighted numerous instances of financial misconduct and raised significant concerns regarding financial oversight and accountability in Nigeria.

Between 2018 and 2024 records from GovSpend, an analytic tool designed to give user-friendly access to information on the daily spending of the Federal Government of Nigeria at all levels have shown that some Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) engaged in transactions that go against the country’s Financial Regulations, 2009.

TheInvestigator probe of financial transactions by Federal MDAs revealed that money meant for official assignments was paid into personal accounts to the tune of over N1.8b.

Chapter Seven (bank accounts and cheques) section 713 (public and personal money to be kept separate) of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009 which emphasises separating public and personal money in government transactions needed to be adhered to.

Section 713 states, “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private bank account. An officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.”

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