Buhari, Sylva Must Explain How N116m Was Spent On Pens, Papers, Others – SERAP

Following reports that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources spent N116m in 2015 to buy pens, toners, letterhead papers and other stationery, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to use their leadership positions to probe this development.

The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation last Thursday had said this development was in contravention of the Public Procurement Act 2017 by the Permanent Secretary.

SERAP, in a letter signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and addressed to the President and Abubakar Malami, said Buhari and Sylva risk legal action if they fail to probe how the Ministry spent such amount on stationery in just one year.

Excerpts of the letter shared by Vanguard partly reads:

“An effective and efficient ministry ought to keep careful track of how it spends public money, and put in place a system to eliminate corruption, mismanagement, unnecessary, inefficient, or unreasonable expenditures.

“Any allegations of misuse of public funds may constitute serious misconduct that impairs the efficiency of your Ministry, and undermines public confidence in the ability of ministries, departments and agencies [MDAs] to provide essential public goods and services to Nigerians.

“SERAP is concerned that the allegations by the Office of the Auditor-General raises serious violations of anti-corruption legislation, the Nigerian Constitution and international anti-corruption standards.

“We would therefore be grateful if you would indicate the measures being taken to probe the spending of N116m on biros, letterhead and toners in 2015, and disclose the total amount spent on the same items between 2016 and 2020 within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter.”

“The Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources has a legal obligation to conduct an effective investigation into any allegations of breach of anti-corruption legislation and international standards, including those relating to the spending by the Ministry on biros, letterhead and toners between 2015 and 2020.”