NBA Financial Statement: Total Expenditure In The Month Of August 2018 Was N866M Plus, NBA President, Reveals, Exercise Not A Witch-Hunt, He Insists

* NBA Net Assets Shows N1,851, 469, 886 for Management Account, N2,065,656, 695 for Audited Accounts And Adjusted Audited Accounts. * Financial Statement Shows Total Current Liabilities As N446, 542, 516.00 * As He Reminds Members of Auditor’s Warning Of The Possibility Of A Restatement Or Adjustment Of The Figure Based On Fresh Information And Data The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Paul Usoro, SAN, has said that NBA’s total expenditure in the month of August 2018 was N866, 570, 811.00 with a finance cost of N500, 000.00, while the sum for the member funds of the NBA as at 31^st August, 2018, was a total of N 2, 065, 656, 695. The Learned Silk made this statement in a press release titled “NBA Financial Statement As At 31 August 2018 and Finance Diagnostic Report”, dated the 16^th day of November, 2018. Giving an explanation of the movement of cash within the stipulated period, Mr. Usoro said that the NBA Admin account which is the NBA’s main operational account was overdrawn and had a deficit balance of N42,020, 959.27 as at 31st August, 2018. He also said that the Financial Statement shows cash and cash equivalent position of N126,113, 841.00 as at 31 August, 2018, as Total Current Liabilities, reads N446, 542, 516.00. “The NBA Admin account which is the NBA’s main operational account was overdrawn and had a deficit balance of N42,020, 959.27 as at 31 August 2018 and this is reported as part of the current liabilities in the FS, the breakdown of which is set out in Note 6 to the FS at page 7 thereof. The FS however shows cash and cash equivalent position of N126,113, 841.00 as at 31 August, 2018, the breakdown of which is provided in Note 5 to the FS at page 6 thereof. Note 5 shows that most of the cash were in dedicated accounts (e.g. MacArthur Foundation Accounts, stamp and seal account, North East Account) the proceeds of which ought not to, be used for NBA operational activities. “As we pointed out earlier, the NBA admin account is the NBA’s main operational account and it had an overdrawn balance of N42, 020, 950. 27 as at the said date. The balances in the other, arguably, non-dedicated accounts (all of which are detailed along with the dedicated accounts in Note 5 to the FS) when tallied (i.e. having isolated and kept aside the funds in the dedicated accounts), was less than N20,000,000.00 as at the said date. On the liabilities side, the Total Current Liabilities, as at 31 August 2018, according to the FS, was N446, 542, 516.00.” In contemplating the amount, Mr. Usoro drew members’ attention to the caveat that is prominently entered at page 3 of the FS where PWC expressly forewarned the NBA of the possibility of a restatement or adjustment of the figure based on fresh information and data which may be unearthed sequel to the preparation of the FS. He emphasized that in his discussions with PWC, any such restatement of adjustment would be reflected in the Q1 2018/2019 FS which is under preparation, in fulfillment of their commitment to consistently publish Quarterly FS. Speaking further, he said that the statement of comprehensive Income also shows that the NBA’s total expenditure in the month of August 2018 was N866, 570, 811.00 with a finance cost of N500, 000.00, adding that the bulk of the expenditure (N737, 275, 378.00) relates to the AGC. He also stressed that when these two heads of cost are tallied (N867,070, 811. 00) and matched against the NBA’s Gross Income for the month of August 2018 (I.e., N519, 245, 091), the NBA recorded a deficit of N347, 825, 720.00) in that month, as shown in the Comprehensive Income Statement. He further promised that the Financial Statement and the Finance Diagnostic Report would be tabled before NBA NEC for deliberation in 06 December, 2018, adding that the briefing is no witch-hunt but a move to beat the transparency bench-mark as promised by his administration during campaigns. “The statement of comprehensive Income also shows that the NBA’s total expenditure in the month of August 2018 was N866, 570, 811.00 with a finance cost of N500, 000.00. The bulk of the expenditure (N737, 275, 378.00) relates to the AGC. When these two heads of cost are tallied (N867,070, 811. 00) and matched against the NBA’s Gross Income for the month of August 2018 (I.e., N519, 245, 091), the NBA recorded a deficit of N347, 825, 720.00) in that month, as shown in the Comprehensive Income Statement. “The FS and the Finance Diagnostic Report would be tabled before NBA NEC for deliberation in 06 December, 2018. We also expect that the Q1 2018/2019 FS would be ready before the said date and would also be presented and deliberated upon by NEC, in fulfillment of our commitments. We are not on a mission to witch-hunt and/or probe anyone. All that we seek to achieve is to institutionalize the basic principles of governance, transparency and accountability into the NBA body politic in a manner that makes for efficient and transparent conduct of our affairs thereby earning the Association the respect and admiration, not only of our members but of our global audience,” he said. The Statement of the management account made available to TheNigerialawyer (TNL), has a breakdown on the sheet for the NBA Financial position. They are the Audited Accounts (AA), Adjusted Audited Accounts (AAA) and the Management Accounts (MA).  On Assets, there are the non-current assets, current assets, current liabilities and net assets categories. Under non-current assets, the item, “property, plant and equipment” has the sum of N2,063,521, 492 on the audited and adjusted accounts each, while N2,139, 751, 318 is reflected in the management account. The total for this as shown in this segment, however, reflects the same. For current assets, the item, “trade and other receivables” shows N35, 031, 291 for AA and AAA, while MA shows a total sum of N28, 508, 486 with the item, inventories showing N3,638,757 for AA, AAA, and MA.  Amongst others, “repayment” reads N113, 299, 250 for AA and AAA, with MA reading NIL as the net assets as shown reads N2, 065, 656, 695 for AA, N2,199, 295, 606 for AAA while MA reads N1, 851, 469, 886. The same chain goes for members’ fund as recorded in the statement. TNL recalls that the NBA President, Paul Usoro, SAN, had earlier in a statement informed bar men of the engagement of Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) for the twin assignment of preparing the NBA Financial statement as at the 31^st day of August, 2018.]]>