Business
FG Probes MDAs’ Unspent Funds
Attorney-General of the Federation, Jonah Otunla, has written to all commercial banks in the country, asking for the status of the fiscal allocation lodged with them by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The federal government made this move to ensure that the March 31 deadline for the close of the capital votes in the 2011 budget is met.
The action is anticipated to bring to light MDAs who are not able to implement their capital allocations effectively and prevent them from diverting the unspent funds into personal accounts.
Personnel and overhead not spent were expected to have been returned to the treasury by December 2011 while unspent capital budget has up till March 31, 2012 to either be utilized or returned to the treasury.
The letter, dated February 15, 2012, requested for the bank accounts balances of MDAs in all banks as at 31st December, 2011. “Your submission should state the title of the account, purpose, agency, current balance, status (active or dormant), whether authorised by Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and any other information,” stated Otunla in the letter. “Your response is expected latest by 29th February, 2012.” The federal government had looked forward to N233.79 billion unspent fund from 2011 fiscal year to fund the 2012 budget.