The Accountant General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, has clarified that her office does not handle payments for projects by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
In a statement on Saturday, Dr. Madein explained that despite receiving a payment request from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, her office did not act upon it. The Ministry was instead advised on the appropriate steps to take in line with established payment procedures.
Allocations are released to self-accounting MDAs in accordance with the budget, and these MDAs are accountable for project implementation and associated payments, Dr. Madein noted.
In such cases, payments are typically processed by the relevant ministries as self-accounting entities, avoiding bulk payments to individual accounts in the name of the Project Accountant. Dr. Madein emphasized that payments should be directed to beneficiaries through their verified bank accounts.
Reiterating her commitment to upholding accountability and transparency in public finance management, Dr. Madein advised MDAs to ensure adherence to requisite steps in conducting financial transactions.
This clarification comes in response to reports concerning a payment request from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. A document surfaced indicating that the Minister, Betta Edu, allegedly disbursed N585,198,500.00 into a personal account.
The document, signed by Edu and directed to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, revealed instructions for the disbursement to a private account.
The payment, amounting to N585.198 million, was intended for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states.
This revelation sparked social media outrage, prompting questions about why such a substantial sum was directed to a private account. In response, Minister Edu insisted that the payment followed due process.
In a statement, her media aide, Rasheed Zubair, explained that the grant payment was directed to the account of an individual serving as the Project Accountant for Grants for Vulnerable Groups.
