It’s smear campaign, says ex-finance minister
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has begun into the alleged misuse of $2.2 million out of $400m disbursed to Nigeria by a donor agency, Global Alliance Vaccine and Immunisation between 2000 and 2014. The agency’s investigation followed a petition sent to it by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Linus Awute, in which he also alleged that former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, authorised the refund of the money to GAVI in 2014 without recourse to due process.
Sunday Telegraph gathered that though the donor agencies were fully in support of the current crusade by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to clamp down on corrupt deals under the last government, the letter had raised suspicions of a possible cover-up. In a swift reaction, Okonjo- Iweala has faulted the describing it as a smear campaign. She also said she did no wrong in refunding the money to the donor agency. In the July 15, 2015 petition, Awute urged the antigraft agency to investigate the manner in which the fund was repaid to the donor agency.
Awute acknowledged that the $2.2m was the subject of a dispute between the health ministry and the donor agency, when GAVI sought the intervention of the EFCC and the Ministry of Finance, but claimed that all of the funds were properly accounted for by the National Primary Heatlhcare Development Agency with relevant documentary evidence. He said that the Federal Ministry of Health was under the impression that the EFCC would seek to harmonise GAVI’s audit report and the response from the NPHCDA. According to Awute, instead of seeking the reconciliation of the two accounts, Okonjo-Iweala rushed into paying the disputed $2.2m to GAVI “without recourse to the Federal Ministry of Health.”
Sunday Telegraph, however, learnt that the alleged payment followed a damning audit report released in October 2014 by GAVI, accusing the Nigerian goverment of massive corruption and mismanagement of fund to the tune of $165m with additional cash support to the tune of $143.5m. The report specifically indicted the Federal Ministry of Health and NPHCDA in the alleged shady deals spanning from 2002 to 2014 when the funds were released. The audit report established that the donor agency had conducted an investigation and uncovered several corrupt practices in the management of funds it invested in the health sector.
The findings included the “identification of approximately $300,000 of unsubstantiated expenditures relating to Immunisation System Support (ISS) programmes for the year 2009, 2010 and 2011.” The report also demanded an investigation into the alleged payment of the sum of $950,000 as Value Added Tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
According to the findings in the audit report, only $70,000 was ascertained to have been paid by NPHCDA to FIRS during the period under review. Similarly, only the sum of $1.4m was released to the states as against an approved budget of $6.4m earmarked for the states in 2013, leaving out a balance of about $5m. In the final analysis, the auditors indicted Nigeria and mandated GAVI to “seek reimbursement of $2.2 million from the government of Nigeria, being expenditure classified as irregular or ineligible and deemed misuse.”
The report also asked that the corrupt practices be reported to EFCC, to carry out a thorough and detailed investigation of GAVI grants disbursed to Nigeria. Sunday Telegraph also learnt that the matter degenerated to a situation where GAVI declared that it would cease to do business with Nigeria, until the Nigerian government paid back the disputed sum of $2.2 million to the organisation. In order not to bring the Nigerian government to disrepute in the international community, Okonjo- Iweala had to oblige GAVI by making the refund to the donor agency.
However, with the recent moves by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to investigate tranasctions under the former government, it appeared that officials of the health ministry quickly wrote a letter to query the ex-finance minister’s decision. Sources within the ministry told Sunday Telegraph that there was a deliberate attempt by some of its top officials to pass the buck in order to save their necks. According to a statement posted by GAVI on its website, following the completion of the Cash Programme Audit of its programmes in Nigeria, the organisation finalised its audit report in October 2014.
In the course of the audit, the sum of $2.2m was discovered to have been misused. “The audit scope covered the expenditures incurred and procurement activities conducted at the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and states in the fiscal years 2011-2013. “In a joint letter of understanding signed by the then Minister of Health and the GAVI CEO, it was agreed in principle by the minister to repay any funds identified as having been misused. The CPA determined that US$2.2 million had been misused.
In accordance with the joint letter of understanding, and in line with GAVI and Nigeria’s Partnership Framework Agreement (PFA), cosigned by the then Minister of Health, the then Minister of Finance and the GAVI CEO, GAVI requested the reimbursement of the identified US$ 2.2 million.
“The PFA, which sets out the terms and conditions for the Government to receive support from GAVI, indicates that GAVI shall have the right in its absolute discretion but acting reasonably to determine whether GAVI’s funds have been used solely to fund the programme activities or whether they have been misused (in full or in part). Gavi has since been fully reimbursed.
“An agreed extended audit is now underway to examine certain expenditures in more depth, and to review other periods not covered in the initial audit. GAVI has a zero tolerance approach to misuse of funds and shall seek reimbursement when such cases are found.
GAVI funding is used to increase access to immunisation for children in the world’s poorest countries,” the organisation stated. Okonjo-Iweala’s Media Adviser, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, told Sunday Telegraph in a telephone chat that the petition might be part of the grand design by some persons who have been desperately trying to drag her name in the mud for reasons best known to them. He stated that from 2000- 2015, GAVI disbursed $425m in grants to Nigeria, an average of about $30m per annum for vaccination and immunization of children.
“The organisation made a request in 2014 for the reimbursement of part of the funds it had given to Nigeria which it said had been mishandled. Like agreements reached with other international organisations, the agreement with GAVI had specified that any funds out of the grant to Nigeria which were confirmed to have been mishandled must be refunded.
This is standard operational procedure internationally. “Based on a GAVI audit, $2.2m was determined to have been mishandled and was refunded to GAVI, as approved by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Before the expiration of the last administration, the case was also handed over to the EFCC for investigation of possible breaches,” Nwabuikwu said. EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujiaren, neither picked calls to his phone nor responded to an SMS seeking information on the progress of the investigation.
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