Several questions have emerged following revelations that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Betty Edu, initiated a payment request of N585 million for ministry projects.
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Investigations reveal the payment procedure contravened aspects of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations. This has fueled calls for the minister to provide clarification on the following issues:
1. Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009 do not empower Minister Edu to originate payment requests directly since she is not the ministry’s accounting officer. By making a permanent secretary the accounting officer of a ministry, the intent of the law is to insulate government business from politics and allow government affairs to run smoothly and professionally on some sets of rules and guidelines which political officeholders may not be familiar with.
2 Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations 2009, which emphasises separating public and personal money in government transactions, states that “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account (Minister Edu clearly violates this section).”
The section, in addition, says, “Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.” It is very clear that the intent of the law here is to prevent fraud in government business.
3. Why would the minister pay such a huge amount of money to a civil servant instead of electronically paying the beneficiaries directly? What is the mechanism in place for accountability?
4. By Nigeria’s Financial Regulation 2009, only the Minister of Finance is empowered to issue warrants for disbursement of appropriated funds. Why is the Humanitarian Affairs Minister playing that role here?
5. Why is Mrs Edu the one initiating a request for payment of public funds when she is not the accounting officer of her ministry or his appointed representative (as stipulated in the financial regulation)?
Several federal lawmakers and civil society groups have expressed outrage and demanded urgent answers from the Minister. They stressed the need for accountability and transparency in management of public finances.
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