…Conflict Resolution Institute indicted over unsubstantiated payments, doubtful trainings
By Lubem Gena
The Galaxy Backbone, the information technology and shared service provider of the federal government, has come under interrogation by the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over several allegations of financial infractions, violation of financial and contract extant rules and regulations running into billions of Naira.
The committee headed by Representative Bamidele Salam at its hearing today, 19th February, 2025 grilled the organization as a result of several queries as contained in the Auditor-General’s For the Federation’s 2021 report.
Representing the Managing Director of the Galaxy Backbone was Mr. Sani Mohammed Ibrahim, the Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Service along with other key officials of the company.
The committee found Galaxy Backbone guilty of non-remittance of taxes worth N329,845,000 which was to be paid within the stipulated 21 days and ruled that necessary sanctions should apply.
Another issue that came under scrutiny was the payment of N66,799,440 for a contractual obligation without relevant documentation.
The committee requested the organisation to furnish it with details of the transaction within 72 hours.
The committee also uncovered the payment to a company in the United States of America (USA), ST Engineering which used the same address in terms of street and number in two different states.
The committee observed that there was no evidence of execution of the contract.
Galaxy Backbone was also given another 72 hours to furnish the PAC with all the details of the contractor and all documents as required by Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and other regulatory procedures.
The failure by Galaxy Backbone to convincingly explain other violation such as e-payment violations totaling N12, 661,300 in addition to other doubtful payments amounting to N2,433,701. 56 as well as procurement contract of $164, 403 further infuriated the committee.
Consequently, Galaxy Backbone was handed another invitation for re-appearance to speak on pending issues on Thursday, 27th February, 2025 by 1pm.
In a similar vein, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) appeared before the committee to answer audit queries especially those of payment of allowances for projects Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to the tune of N25,801,400.00
The Director General of the Institute, Dr. Joseph Ochogwu said most of the issues raised were carried out during previous administration as his team resumed duties in 2024 while the queries arose from infractions committed during the 2021 fiscal year.
The committee however took exception to the explanation and requested for the exact location of the projects, basis of calculation of transportation fare, the list of personnel that embarked on the trips, all the receipts and vouchers as well as payment details that accrued to them.
The committee also beamed its searchlight on “payment for doubtful trainings” totaling N21,383,800.00k in which the explanation fails below average expectation prompting PAC to constitute an ad hoc committee headed by Representative Billy Osawaru (Edo state) to resolve the discrepancies and report back in 1 week time.
The institute was indicted for lack of economy, efficiency and effectiveness
