The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has disowned the claim that the disputed Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) opened an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
While responding to claims made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the PFIPC, the Presidency had said misled OAGF and opened a CBN account.
“The Police found that Adeyemi, using the fake documents he created, fraudulently opened a CBN account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. According to the police, no government money has been transferred into the account,” Bayo Onanuga, Presidential spokesman, had said in a statement, which exonerated Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, of any wrongdoing in the saga.
But giving its own side of the issue, the OAGF said the council never completed the process required to operate a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account.
He said that made it impossible for any government allocation to be paid into its coffers.
Director of Public Relations at the OAGF, Bawa Mokwa, said an application to open the account was initiated after the council’s convener, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, presented “an appointment letter“ linked to an existing government agency.
He, however, said the process stalled because the names of authorised signatories were never submitted, preventing the account from becoming operational.
“The account has not seen the light of day. It has not received one kobo because it was never fully activated.
“The Accountant-General has not released any money because there is no operational account for such payment,” Mokwa said.
He added that while the council has a budgetary allocation, the existence of a provision in the Appropriation Act does not automatically translate into the release of funds.
The OAGF also dismissed claims that salaries had been paid to staff of the council.
Mokwa explained that federal agencies cannot recruit personnel or process salary payments without obtaining approvals from the Federal Character Commission, the Budget Office and the Federal Civil Service Commission before workers are enrolled on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
“If an agency is granted a waiver to recruit, it must still obtain approvals from the relevant agencies before presenting staff details to the Accountant-General. Without those approvals, not even one employee can be captured on the payroll,” he said.
According to him, none of the statutory conditions has been fulfilled by the PFIPC.
He insisted that the council has neither an operational CBN account nor an approved payroll through which government funds or salaries could have been disbursed.
