Over N12 billion was spent by Nigeria’s Supreme Court, in breach of financial regulations for five years, disclosed the latest audit report of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF).
The audit report, released in December 2023, recommended that the funds should be recovered and remitted to the treasury by the Chief Registrar of the court.
The report essentially covers the expenditures and finances of ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government for the 2020 fiscal year, but for the Supreme Court, it stretches forward and backwards to touch on some major payments and transactions executed from 2017 to 2021.
Narrating the circumstances around the issue of overpayment to a contractor, the report revealed that a contract was awarded for the construction of an access road to justices’ quarters (Yellow Houses) in Abuja in April 2021, the twilight of Ms Uwani-Mustapha’s exit from the Supreme Court.
The contract was awarded at the cost of N990 million (N990,494,207.80 in total). The level of work done was valued at 50 per cent, which should have amounted to N495 million (N495,247,103.90).
But “the contractor was paid N827 million (N827,075,713.04 in total) being 83.5 per cent of the contract sum resulting in an overpayment of N331,815,559.61,” the report said, adding that the court offered no explanation for the violation.
In another instance, the court awarded contracts totalling N371.5 million (N371,541,636 in total) for supplies, works and services in 2017 without budgetary provisions.
However, payments amounting to N112 million (N112,117,106.37) were made in 2018, 2019 and 2020 “with no evidence of appropriation”.
The report also uncovered the sale of four landed property belonging to the court in Lagos.
The plots of land located at 72 Alexander Avenue, 2 Club Road, 20 Cameron Road and 15 Ikoyi Crescent, all in Abuja, were “disposed of without following due process”.
Added the report: “Evidence of the disposal such as authorisation, report from board of survey, engagement of auctioneers, advertisement, proceeds from disposal, among others were not produced for audit”.
