House Grills NSITF over N6.8bn Unaccounted Expenditure, Unpaid Taxes

Udora Orizu

The House of Representatives, yesterday, grilled the Managing Director of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Michael Akabogu, over N6.889 billion unaccounted expenditures and N1 billion unremitted Value Added Tax (VAT).

Speaking during the investigative hearing into the 50 audit queries issued by the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF), Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Wole Oke, stressed the need for the House intervention to recover all the debts owed by the Fund.

The lawmakers also demanded for details of the unaccounted for revenue worth N72.8 million accrued from some of the properties owned by the company.

In his response, Akabogu, while denying knowledge of the money allegedly spent by the former NSITF Board Chairman, Mrs. Ngozi Olojeme, and others, urged the lawmakers to invite them for necessary questioning.

Addressing a question on the unaccounted revenue, which accrued from the properties owned by the Fund, the MD disclosed that the Fund had been able to recover part of the unremitted rents collected by the Agent, Mohammed & Co.

Oke, however, directed the Clerk to write the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to provide NSITF bank details since 2015 till 2021 under Treasury Single Account (TSA), adding that NSITF management should provide list of its bankers.

He stressed the need for the committee to visit all the NSITF properties with a view to conducting an on-the-spot assessment of the assets.