Managing Director of The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Dr Michael Akabogu, has said that termites have destroyed most of the vouchers containing concrete details of how a total sum of N17.158 billion was allegedly misappropriated by past directors of the commission.
Akabogu who appeared before the Senate on Monday said documents containing information about how the said N17.158 billion was spent does not exists in their kitty.
The Senate Public Account Committee (SPAC) had launched an investigation against NSITF. The Senate issued an audit query scrutinising the NSITF as recommended by the Auditor General for the Federation (AUGF).The AuGF queries indicated that the NSTIF could not justify the spending of N17.158bn in 2013, with required documents.
The N17.158 billion, as stated in the 2018 audit report, was the total amount of money transferred by NSITF from its Skye Bank and First Bank accounts into various untraceable accounts belonging to individuals and companies from January to December 2013.
Since the emergence of the report none of the managements could offer satisfactory explanation on the undocumented multiple transfers, as those at the helm of affairs in 2013 told the committee that they left behind documents like vouchers.
But, the incumbent Akabogu, who appeared before Senate for questioning said no such document exists in their kitty.
In his words,“The container the said documents were kept by past management has not only been beaten by rains over the years but even possibly being eaten up by termites.
“As directed by this committee, I told the past management officers the need for them to help us out in answering this query with necessary documents which have not been made available for us.”
Also, the managing director of NSITF from 2010 to 2016, Umar Munir Abubakar, in his submission said he was unaware of the query and had no explanation for it since the audit was not carried out during his tenure.
But his successor, Mr Adebayo Somefun, who was head of the agency from May 2017 to July 2020, said those in the account section should be able to trace the documents which the current General Manager Finance claimed was locked up in an abandoned container within the premises of the NSITF in Abuja.
Irked by submission, the chairman of the Senate panel, Matthew Urhoghide, summoned the past and present NSITF officials, to reappear before the committee with all the requested evidential documents unfailingly on Thursday, September 22, 2022.
He stated: “This committee has given you people more than enough time to respond to queries slammed on NSITF in the 2018 Audit report by the office of Auditor General of the Federation.
“The queries are 50 in number ranging from one misappropriation to the other in billions of Naira. The one on N17.158billion multiple transfers carried out in 2013 has not been answered at all, not to talk of N5.5billion allegedly diverted into a commercial bank account without approval, N2.2billion unauthorized Investment without adequate records etc.
“These are completely unacceptable and the committee will make sure that these queries are sustained if required evidential documents on monies spent or misappropriated, are not provided.”
