Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has directed that an investigation be conducted into the payroll of the Air Force, the Navy and the Army by Continuous Audit Team of the Federal Government following revelations on an alleged diversion of N558.2 million in the ongoing trial of a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh. The Continuous Audit team is saddled with the responsibility of scrutinizing the payroll of the three services which were yet to be included on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) so as to ensure that leakages and loopholes were blocked.
The development was confirmed in a statement by the Director of Press in the Finance Ministry, Salisu Na’Inna Dambatta. Adeosun said the measure became necessary as part of the change mantra of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which was meant to restore the culture of transparency, accountability and control in the management of public funds.
The Continuous Audit Process was one of the initiatives of the Minister approved by President Muhammadu Buhari as part of the ongoing reforms in the public finance management system as emphasised in the President’s speech on the 2016 Budget. Adeosun said the Director of Special Projects in the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Mohammed Kyari Dikwa, according to the minister, will head the Continuous Audit Team and report their findings for appropriate action. Similarly, the Federal Government has said it would ensure that the tax system reflects the commercial activity levels in Nigeria.
To this end, it reiterated her resolve to mobilise revenue from the non-oil sector to finance critical sectors. Stating government’s position yesterday in a keynote address delivered at the opening ceremony of the18th Annual Tax Conference of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) in Abuja, Adeosun, who represented President Buhari, stressed the need for a robust tax system.
