N11bn audit queries: Reps threaten to arrest BoI MD

The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday threatened to issue an arrest warrant against the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Mr. Olukayode Pitan, over unanswered audit queries by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

However, the committee will drop the arrest option if he appears before it on Friday.

The 2014-2015 audit queries covered spending totalling N11bn, mostly on unrecovered loans by the bank.

The committee, which is chaired by a member from Rivers State, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, had invited Pitan to appear in respect of the audit queries.

But, in his place, the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr, Taiwo Kolawole, showed up to tell lawmakers that the MD had another meeting with officials of the Enugu State Government.

The explanation was not taken lightly by lawmakers, who queried why the MD would prefer a meeting with state government officials to the one scheduled by the National Assembly.

One furious member of the committee, Mr. Gabriel Onyemife, reacted, “His explanation was annoying, as it was insulting to the effect that the meeting with the Enugu Government officials supersedes that with the National Assembly.”

Commenting on the issue, Chinda stated, “Over N8bn loans given out have not been recovered and the bank is not doing anything about it according to the query.

“There is a second query of N2bn unexplained expenditure.”

After deliberating on the matter, the committee resolved, “Considering the enormity of the sum involved, over N11bn as contained in the query by the AGF, and considering the fact that the MD has given more importance to a meeting with Enugu State Government, we are tempted to take action as appropriate; but in the spirit of fair hearing, we want to give him another opportunity so that he can appear before us tomorrow, the 18th of August 2017 by 11 am, failure of which we will order his arrest.”Punch