Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said 15 revenue-generating agencies of the Federal Government failed to remit N8.1 trillion to the Federation Account between 2010 and 2015.

The minister disclosed this in Osogbo, Osun State, yesterday, while commissioning the Channelisation, De-silting, Flood Control and Development of Okoko and Ogbagba Rivers, phases one and two, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said the discovery by the auditing firm, KPMG is many times worse than the N1.34 trillion carted away by 55 public officials between 2006 and 2013.

“Recently, the federal government ordered an audit (between 2010 and 2015) of 15 government revenue-generating agencies. The result was the discovery that the agencies had not remitted over N8.1 trillion to the federation account. This amount is about six times the N1.34 trillion that was stolen between 2006 and 2015.

“It is also the equivalent, on the average, of the country’s yearly national budget! Imagine, for a moment, how many kilometres of roads could have been constructed, how many kilometres of rail tracks that could have been laid, and how many modern hospitals and schools that could have been built if that money had been properly accounted for,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
He told the crowd at the commissioning that the Buhari administration’s fight against corruption remains critical because it will free the much-needed resources for national development.

Related News

Osun Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, corroborated the minister and added that the share of his state from the said amount is N75 billion which, he said, would have been more than enough to pay all civil servants their salaries and complete all infrastructural projects of the government.

Speaking on the commissioned project, the minister said this is the first time the Ecological Fund Office is commissioning any project and handing it over to the host community.

He said the triple project, which was one of the 12 fourth Quarter 2016 Ecological Intervention Projects across the six geo-political zones approved by the President in October 2016, was due to the perennial flooding which had claimed lives and destroyed property in Osogbo Township.”