Financial Recklessness: The necessity of moving from reactive to preemptive administrative system

The need for addressing matters relating to financial recklessness in Nigeria is now more alarming than ever, given the financial plague confronting the Country. It is apparent that the offsprings of the prevailing plague is such that have left no appealing look on the socio-economic and political architectures of the Country. It is glaring that the prevailing situations really demand more stringent approaches than it has ever been. Hence, giving no more room for gaps of financial recklessness is a duty call that must be handled strategically with pragmatic firmness. It is no doubt that the porous system of financial flow within the architectures of public offices have been a bane which has permitted the sapping of state resources into unaccountable use. The porosity has left lacunae fortified by opaqueness which has charaterised the system, and thus an open channel for financial recklessness. Opportunists in their selfish capricious tendencies have over the years seized the chance to siphon public funds for personal aggrandizement.

Accountability is one paramount part of governance, be it in the corporate private entity or within public formations. In the public sphere, the subject on its own is one tenet of democracy which draws heavyweight of defining characters. However, while the practicality of the tenet of accountability finds stronger ground in the working patterns of the governing architecture of private entities, it is apparent that the same has been wanting within the architectures of public governance in Nigeria.

Accountability in the Nigerian parlance of governance appears to be miniature and a subject of gross concern regarding giving integrity of reports to public revenue and expenditures. The deficiencies of structural formations of the official architectures of governance in the Country is such which have opened the framework to the manifestations of poor system of accountability patterns. It is evident that while there are some instruments which are available to identify gaps in the instance of unaccountability at certain official levels within government architectures, the chunk of leakages which these instruments are weak and unable to trace or recognise, may largely overshadow the recognisable ones. The overwhelming punctures of leakages are pulling strings which for years have weakened the system of running governance with unaccounted financial leakages. The clustering of the phenomenon has largely been the ground for the expansive wings of the tentacles of corruption which has coloured the perceptional definition of the Country as one of the headquarters of corruption in the world.

Reports and ambiguity over cases of default in remittances from revenue generating Agencies of the Government to the coffers have been a subject pregnant with emphatic points of note. While this expands across all levels of government in the Federation, its stronghold at the Federal level appears more troubling, particularly with the enormity of leakages which find expression within the structures of its revenue generating Agencies. Recently, the joint efforts of the two chambers of the National Assembly to probe some Agencies whose records have revealed lacunae with suspicion of financial recklessness in the light of apparent skewing of proper accountability have raised concerns. The discoveries have led to Agencies falling under such category appearing on invitation by either of the Chambers or a joint committee formation to defend alleged cases of financial discrepancies. Cases of unaccountable withdrawals from purses of Ministries Departments Agencies (MDAs) and parastatals have been a sordid norm of administrative misadventures in Nigeria.

Subjects bordering on financial lacunae in the account of several MDAs had been resounding with summons from the National Assembly taking toll on several MDAs and parastatals most recently. Most recent is another summon for the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris,  by the Senate Public Accounts Committee over an alleged secret withdrawal of N7.5billion from the two per cent National Automotive Design and Development Council Levy Account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The subject of the alleged secret withdrawal was contained in the report of the Auditor-General, currently being scrutinised by both chambers of the National Assembly. The report had indicated that the first tranche of N3.8billion was withdrawn in two installments of N2.8billion in 2005 and N1billion in 2006. According to the report, the second tranche of N3.7billion, was withdrawn between March and December 2000 in three separate payments of N725million, N1billion and N2billion. Questioning the Director General, National Automotive Design and Development Council, Jelani Aliyu, over the transaction on Wednesday, he had told the chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, that the money was withdrawn without the knowledge of the agency. He said the agency had been writing to the Accountant-General and the Ministry of Finance on the need to refund the money but that there was no response. Following the disclosure, the Senate Committee therefore resolved to summon the Minister of Finance and the Accountant-General of the Federation to give further explanations about the fund.

The AuGF query had partly read: “A total sum of N3,836,000,000.00 was irregularly withdrawn from the two per cent National Automotive Council Levy Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja in two installments of N2,800,000,000 (in 2005) and N1,036,000,000.00 (in 2006) by the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Finance as car loans to be granted for the Security Personnel Car Purchase Scheme Loan. The transaction was carried out by the Presidency in collaboration with the Bank of Industry, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General of the Federation without the involvement of NAC, the account owner. However the principal and the accrued interest from the fictitious loan have not been paid back nor are records available on the beneficiaries, agreement documents, moratorium, duration of the loan, the yearly interest rates accruable and how the fund will be paid back by the beneficiary. The director-general has been requested to intensify correspondence with the Honourable Minister of Finance, Accountant-General of the Federation and the Presidency to recover the fund (loan).”

It is indisputable that the system of accountability within the structures of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the Country are so porous and underdeveloped. The traditional patterns of the working system of account is such that broadly allow for leakages which continue to weaken the workings of governance. It is evident that the porosity of public finance system wanting of virile accountability structures, remains a dysfunctional imbalance which has made efficiency and effectiveness in executing plans and achieving defined objectives difficult in the Country.

The onus lies on the Government to pay specific attention to the porosity of the public financial system. The Federal government should take the lead by setting the standard for other levels of government to follow suit. The necessity for the Presidency to work harmoniously with the National Assembly for deliberations towards overhauling the prevailing system with new structural patterns is sine qua non. Such modifications should bring into play, automatic responses which would flash on sight, any resemblance of default and defect in financial accountability. The need for new patterns that expose cases of discrepancies in financial accountability is essential to guide against the expansive wings of the tentacles of unaccountability of public funds which have hit the Country badly. With the reality of the waves of financial strains facing the Country, it is important that efforts be directed to devising patterns to systemically block up the openings of dysfunction which have made porosity the order of resonance, hindering the speed of the Government in executing productive projects with the highest level of efficiency for the desired national growth and development.

The time to reckon with the reality of present needs is paramount. In this light, it is non-negotiable that financial recklessness can no longer be condoned. Thus, the demand to close existing systemic lapses permitting channels of financial recklessness is now a necessity that must be handled with utmost alacrity. It is hence, important that the most possible stringent measures to block all leakage channels giving room for financial recklessness must be employed strategically with timely responsiveness. Moving towards a system that is preemptive against financial recklessness and corruption inclinations, is thus paramount. It is apparent that the prevailing patterns of administration have failed in this regard. The shortcomings have only reduced the Government to reactive measures against such recklessness. The prosecution of most of these cases have never so far recorded impressive results in recovering squandered and stolen funds. The rational approach therefore, lies in a systemic paradigm shift from the prevailing reactive system to a robust preemptive governance administrative system with virile structures that keep the train moving in the best possible light of unfettered accountability.