N100bn indictment: Reps c’ttee summons FCT area council chairmen

Reps

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has summoned the chairmen of the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory over alleged financial breaches running into over N100bn, following an indictment by the Auditor-General for the FCT.

The affected councils are Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Abaji and Kwali.

The audit report for the year ended December 31, 2021, submitted to the Committee, revealed widespread cases of unremitted taxes and value-added tax deductions, failure to update fixed asset registers, and expenditures yet to be properly accounted for across the six councils.

The report said, “The six Area Councils recorded outstanding liabilities amounting to N7.6bn as of December 31, 2021.”

In a statement issued on Friday by the PAC media unit, the Committee said, “The liabilities comprised unremitted pension deductions, unremitted Pay-As-You-Earn, unpaid capital project obligations, unremitted VAT and withholding taxes due to the Nigeria Revenue Service, FCT Inland Revenue Service, Pension Fund Administrators, and contractors.”

A breakdown of the unremitted liabilities showed that Abuja Municipal Area Council had outstanding obligations of N2.19bn, followed by Bwari Area Council with N1.49bn and Kwali Area Council with N1.46bn.

According to the audit report, Gwagwalada Area Council recorded N1.01bn, Kuje Area Council N892.2m, while Abaji Area Council accounted for N593.8m, bringing the total to N7.65bn. Punch