Reps summon 256 MDAs over N284.3bn extra-budgetary spending

The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday directed that 256 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government that allegedly overshot their approved overhead by N284.3 billion in 2020 should appear before it for explanation. The committee also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to furnish it with the […]

The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday directed that 256 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government that allegedly overshot their approved overhead by N284.3 billion in 2020 should appear before it for explanation.

The committee also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to furnish it with the list of the affected MDAs.

Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, gave the directive when the accountant-general and the Auditor-General  of the Federation (AuGF), Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira, appeared before the  panel to present the 2020 audit report of the federation to the committee.

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Salam observed that the 256 MDAs allegedly engaged in extra-budgetary spending in 2020 to the tune of N284.3bn which was never appropriated for by the National Assembly.

When asked of the rationale for such extra-budgetary spending, the accountant general said some of the MDAs which had access to the service-wide votes and some revenue- generating MDAs usually engaged in such expenditure to address needs that were not appropriated for in their approved overhead.

But Salam, while ruling on the matter, said MDAs engaging in extra-budgetary expenditure without approval from the National Assembly was illegal and, therefore, insisted that the affected agencies must appear to provide explanations.