Alleged Financial Infractions Prompt Summons by Ogun State Assembly Committee
The Ogun State House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts and Anti-Corruption has summoned former officials of the Ministry of Information and Strategy, including the immediate past Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Waheed Odusile, former Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abiodun Awere, and the Director of Finance and Accounts, Mr. Andrew Odukoya. The summons follows alleged financial infractions detected during an audit exercise conducted between 2021 and 2022.
According to a statement released on Monday, the alleged infractions are connected with N92.9 million released to the ministry from the governor’s contingency fund to supplement its expenditures.
Odusile has been mandated to appear with other officials before the committee on Thursday, February 29, 2024, at 1 pm to provide further information on the finance of the ministry.
The committee’s chairman, Damilare Bello, issued this directive while reviewing the ministry’s auditor reports for the years 2021 and 2022, alongside financial records presented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Waheed Adesina, at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
The committee also directed the ministry’s Director of Finance and Accounts, Odukoya, to furnish it with further details on the transfer of N2.51 million to individual accounts, as contained in the 2021 Auditor General Report. The committee observed that N2,515,590.00 was transferred to the personal accounts of Mr. Ojo Emmanuel, Special Adviser on Media, for the purchase of working tools for OGSG New Media Team, which it deemed a breach of due process and financial regulations.
Additionally, the committee directed the Director, Finance, and Accounts to provide the ministry’s up-to-date fixed asset register and submit details of cash inflows and outflows.
In response, the Permanent Secretary, Adesina, assured the committee that efforts had been made to address the issues raised in the audit report. He promised that the ministry would comply with all directives to continually promote accountability and transparency.
