Buhari Gives Deadline On Queries To NNPC And Others

President Muhammadu Buhari has given a 30-day ultimatum to all Ministries, Departments  and  Agencies (MDAS) to respond to all outstanding queries within 30 days or be punished.

 

President Buhari

This latest development has created worry to over 50 MDAs which includes the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

The Nation reported that President Buhari has threatened to take drastic actions if necessary actions to effect the audit queries are not given. He said all audit queries must be answered within 24 hours henceforth.

In a statement, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the President is unalterable in his quest to tackle administrative and bureaucratic corruption. In his words: “President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Auditor-General of the Federation to ensure that all outstanding audit queries are conclusively resolved within 30 days. President Buhari has also ordered that henceforth, all audit queries must be answered within 24 hours. The orders followed the President’s displeasure on hearing that audit queries remained unanswered for long periods, sometimes running into years, under previous administrations.”

Shehu went further to say defaulters who violate financial regulations will pay a heavy price. While speaking, he said: “The era of impunity is gone. The President is taking the war on corruption to the civil service. He is not happy that standard operating procedures and financial regulations are no longer being observed as they should. President Buhari will ensure that public officials and civil servants in the service of the Federal Government pay a heavy price from now on for violating financial regulations or disregarding audit queries.”

He stressed that President Buhari have made up his mind to “put an end to the present situation in which, rather than respond to legitimate audit queries, violators of financial regulations in government resort to threatening, bribing or mounting other forms of social pressure on auditors. On his watch, President Buhari wants to see firm action against those who violate extant financial regulations, not the prevarications and shenanigans that went on in the past in the form of endless probes and public inquiries.”

Source: The Nation