By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Office of the Auditor General of the Federation has made shocking revelations regarding the anomalies in the financial records of Nigerian Law School where an unnamed cleaner received N32m within 12 months during a presentation at the Senate.
The audit uncovered many anomalies which include misappropriation of fund and unapproved disbursement of academic funds in the institution.
One of such anomalies includes N32m illegally paid into the account of an unnamed cleaner over the period of 12 months.
Another incident that caught the attention of lawmakers was N36m dressing allowance paid into the account of one staff member despite records showing 52 persons were entitled to the funds.
This payment was a direct violation of Nigeria’s Financial Act.
Quoting the 2015 report, the Nigerian Law School was also indicted of using pension funds to offset expenses not related to payment of pension, an act contrary to existing financial regulations.
The report presented at the Senate reads in part: “The examination of payment records revealed that the Nigerian Law School several times paid N36m to staff as dressing allowance in 2013 alone.
“The Management could not substantiate these payments with any approval from Salaries and Wages Commission to enable the audit team to determine the genuineness of these payments to staff. No appropriation in this request.”
Startled by the damning revelations presented to the Senate, Prof Isa Hayatu Chiroma, Director-General of Nigerian Law school said the misappropriation of funds occurred before he took the reins of leadership at the academic institution.
His statement was verified by members of the Senate committee who ascertained that the corruption took place before Chiroma became the DG of Law school.
However, he was ordered to recover the missing funds and ensure they were returned to the institution’s account.
