By Solomon Dalung
Many of you may not know what is hiding inside the Auditor-General’s report on the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission.
We are talking of over ₦1.3 billion in transactions that have been questioned by auditors, and the details are serious enough that they should not be buried under the usual bureaucratic language.
We are talking about ₦209.09 million reportedly spent on flights, accommodation and logistics for three diaspora events for which auditors said there was no adequate evidence that the services were actually delivered.
Another ₦356.38 million went into contracts involving seven companies whose prequalification documents had expired. ₦165.29 million was paid to five contractors whose Tax Clearance Certificates and BPP certificates were reportedly invalid. Four companies awarded contracts worth ₦91.90 million were also said to have recorded zero turnover, despite a ₦20 million minimum requirement.
Then there is ₦340.83 million spent through emergency procurement for the Global African Diaspora Symposium, even though the auditors questioned the justification for treating the procurement as an emergency and noted the absence of the required BPP approval.
There are further questions over ₦137.52 million allegedly split into two logistics contracts, ₦48.91 million paid to officers who were not the named beneficiaries, ₦15.60 million paid to security personnel but charged under welfare and cleaning, and millions more in tax under-deductions and overpayments.
The auditors also reported five government vehicles that could not be sighted, cash advances of about ₦20.5 million above the permitted threshold, and the failure to submit the Commission’s 2023 audited accounts.
The questions are specific. The amounts are specific. The transactions are specific.
So the responsibility now is equally simple: produce the documents, explain every transaction, identify the beneficiaries, account for the assets and, where public money cannot be justified, recover it.
NiDCOM has reportedly said it will respond with its records when formally requested. Good. Let the records speak.
Nigerians in the diaspora send money home, invest here, support families and contribute enormously to the Nigerian economy. A commission created to serve their interests must therefore be held to an especially high standard of transparency.
Nobody should be above scrutiny because of office, reputation or political connections.
And if everything was properly done, the easiest way to silence the allegations is not through outrage or public relations.
Open the books. Answer the questions. Let the evidence settle the matter.
That is how public accountability is supposed to work.”
Solomon Dalung Esq. first published this article on X