The House of Representatives has rejected the response of the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, on the audit query on the source of N54 billion borrowed to pay the pension of staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in 2014.
The House also expressed dissatisfaction with Idris response as to why his office failed to remit the closing balance from Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) account to the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the year ending 20114.
Consequently, the House Committee on Public Account directed the AG to provide it with details on the source of the N54billion borrowed by the government to defray the pension of defunct PHCN staff.
Idris, who appeared before the Public Account Committee , yesterday, told the lawmakers that the non-disclosure of the source of the borrowed fund was an oversight.
The AG, while assuring the House that his office will furnish it with details, explained that every now and then, the government borrow from different sources and from different accounts to pay back later when certain exigencies occur.
Besides, the AG added that late passage of the national budget in the succeeding year made it impossible for his office to prepare the financial statement of the government for audit as required by law. He also blamed the delay in getting transcript of accounts from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as part of the factors responsible in delay in the preparation the government annual financial reports.
