The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded for a detailed forensic audit of all the accounts and financial activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2009 till date.
The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh on Sunday also demanded that the audit must establish and publish all movement of monies from the CBN accounts such as contract sums, donations and other extra budgetary spending under the suspended CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
The party said the audit will reveal all contracts awarded by the apex bank within the period, the beneficiary companies and persons behind them as well as the value of the contracts and their status of execution.
It further said facts available to it, some of which have already been published by the Financial Reporting Council, show that within the period, the apex bank engaged in reckless award of inflated contracts through which over N680 billion CBN money was frittered away.
Stating that the beneficiaries of the contracts consist of highly corrupt persons who have been hiding under the toga of anti-corruption crusaders and whistle blowers to syphon the nation’s resources, the PDP said it has been established that there were huge infractions on the management of the bank’s funds which made it impossible for it to properly prepare its financial statements since 2012 using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
The ruling party also said its investigation revealed that the APC and its stalwarts have been the beneficiaries of syphoned CBN money surreptitiously diverted to them by the suspended CBN governor
Asserting that a fraudulent N48 billion contract was awarded to a leader of the APC while N5 billion was further paid to another stalwart of the party as consultancy fee, the PDP said the bank also diverted over N1billion to the APC to open offices across the nation in addition to N100 million donated each to some chieftains of APC to fund their activities last year.
The PDP insisted that the audit must expose the true beneficiaries of over N150 billion doled out as developmental donations especially as some of the institutions listed as beneficiaries such as the Bayero University Kano (BUK) have denied receiving the sums recorded against their names by the CBN. It noted that BUK was widely reported to have announced that it received only N1billion as against the N4 billion claimed by the apex bank.
“Our great party as well as other well meaning Nigerians are particularly worried by allegations that such funds may have actually ended up as financial support to clandestine groups working against the unity and corporate existence of the nation”, the statement said.
It further stated that the “forensic audit will provide answers to how the apex bank under Sanusi spent N20.202 billion on ‘Legal and Professional Fees’ in 2011, as well as the N1.257 billion spent on ‘Private Guards’ and ‘Lunch for Policemen’ in 2012.
“It will explain to Nigerians how the sum of N23 million and N50 million were spent just to renovate the official residence of the CBN governor, while solving the puzzle of N848 million claimed to have been spent on the purchase of a property from the National Planning Commission even without any transaction agreement.”
The party further said the discrepancies noted in the 2011 and 2012 CBN account regarding the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) wherein the CBN claimed to have paid a total of N38.233 billion to the company in 2011 for printing of banknotes whereas the NSPMC declared a total turnover of N29.370 Billion for all its transaction with all clients (including the CBN) were grave issues of corruption that no responsible government will sweep under the carpet.
According to the PDP, this financial recklessness was capped by impudence in the illegal acquisition without the knowledge of the President or the CBN Board, of 7% shares of International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation of Malaysia to the tune of N0.743 Billion in a in clear violation of the CBN Act.
“The issue of prudence at the apex bank borders cardinally on the health of the economy, the growth and well being of the entire nation. Our demand for a forensic audit therefore tallies seamlessly with our firm position on due process and rule law, bearing in mind the imperative of straightening the records and bringing offenders to book, failure of which will catalyze a furious denudation on the confidence of Nigerians in governance, while emitting wrong signals to the international communities, especially, the development partners.”
