THE Ministry of Labour and Employment under former minister, Dr Chris Ngige, paid a total of N860.76 million for contracts and services in 2020 without any evidence of execution.

This was disclosed in the 2020 Auditor-General for the Federation’s Annual Reports released in late January 2024 and seen by Economy Post.

Dr Ngige was Minister of Labour and Employment between November 11, 2015, and May 29, 2023.

The report, which summarised the non-compliance and internal control weaknesses in Nigeria’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in 2020, noted that several other MDAs were also culpable of paying for contracts or services without evidence of execution.

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The report noted, however, that the Ministry of Labour and Employment had the highest amount (in value) in terms of MDAs which paid for contracts without evidence of execution, while Satellite Town Development Department had the least amount of N5,255, 000.

Other MDAs that were equally culpable included: Nigeria Customs Service, Supreme Court, University of Uyo, Nigeria Embassy at Sao Tome, and Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations.

Others were: Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria Police Force, National Film and Video Censors Board, Federal Ministry of Niger Delta, as well as Institute For Peace And Conflict Resolution.

Laws violated

All the MDAs violated Paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which states that “on no account should payment be made for services not yet performed or for goods not yet supplied.”

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They also contravened Paragraph 2402, which states that “on all paid vouchers for the purchase of stores, except as provided in subsection (ii) of this regulation, the storekeeper must certify that the stores have been received and taken on charge in the stores ledger quoting the stores receipt voucher number and attaching the original copy of the store receipt voucher to the original loss of pay (L.P.O).”

Economy Post found that the MDAs also contravened the provisions of Paragraph 603 (i) of the Financial Regulations 2009, which says that “all vouchers shall contain full particulars of each service such as dates, numbers, quantities, distances, and rates, so as to enable them to be checked without reference to any other document and will invariably be supported by relevant documents such as local purchase orders, invoices, special letters of authority, time sheets etc.”

The report referred to Paragraph 415 of the same regulation, which “requires all officers responsible for expenditure to exercise due economy,” stressing that “money must not be spent merely because it has been voted.”

They deserve sanctions -Experts

Experts have waded into the issue of payment of contracts or services without evidence of execution, stressing that both the MDAs and the contractors should be sanctioned.

“If you are executing contracts for the World Bank and you violate any of its schedules or rules, the authorities will delist your name. The same system should be used here,” said an Abuja-based anti-corruption crusader, Dr Elumale Edegha.

“In this case, while the MDAs deserve to be sanctioned, the contracts should be investigated. Contractors found to be involved in the violation must not only be delisted from the system, but should also be disqualified from taking any government contract. They must also be made to face the full weight of the law,” he said.

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A lawyer, Mr Cornelius Adigwe, said this was a criminal offence that should attract serious punishment.

“If you did not provide evidence of execution, it means you never did the job. In that case, the contractors should be made to return the money they received immediately. If the case is taken to court, they may get further punishment for various offenses, including obtaining by false pretenses.”