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| Jim Obazee |
The Executive Secretary of Financial Reporting
Council of Nigeria (FRCN)
After sacking him, the Federal Government is considering probing his
tenure.
Some other top officials of the
council may also be asked to make way as
government prepares for the overhaul of
the parastatal.
The planned reorganisation is a
consequence of allegations of wrongdoings
in the establishment.
One of the allegations is that over
N1 billion cash of the council, meant for International Financial Reporting
Standards Academy (IFRS) is trapped in a
bank, contrary to the decision of the board to invest it in treasury bills.
Investigation revealed that FRCN
had been under probe radar since 2014 but the administration of ex-President
Goodluck Jonathan did not act.
Some of the other allegations
against the council border on curious budget and expenses as follows:
- Expenditure of N225 million on the production of FRC registration certificates which cannot be exhausted in 24 years’ time
- Acquisition of a N47 million mansion in Houston, Texas (suspected as 15918 Mission Village DR Houston Texas 77083) by a top official of FRCN.
- Expenditure of N36 million within 60 days in 2014 on local travel to Abuja to probe the books of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under ex-Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
- Suspicious payment of incidental expenses.
In a particular curious expense in July 2014, a top official
allegedly applied for N736, 250 to go to Abuja for an official assignment.
His memo said: “Please arrange to
reimburse me for my trip to Abuja to meet and brief the Permanent Secretary on
the activities of the FRC.
“I travelled on Monday, July 14,
2014 and returned to Lagos on Tuesday, July 15, 2014.
“Details are as follows: Return
ticket (Lagos-Abuja-Lagos) N150,000; Hotel Expenses (N86, 250); Incidental
Expenses (N500,000), amount due to me, (N736,250).”
In a similar claim, the official on August 18, 2014 asked for a
reimbursement of N836, 250 for a trip to
Abuja.
The official had applied for the reimbursement of the cash
through a memo addressed to Assistant Director (FIND).
The memo, which was obtained by The Nation's correspondent said: “Please arrange to
reimburse me for my trip to Abuja for a meeting to attend the meeting of Heads
of Parastatals with the Honourable
Minister at Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on
Thursday, August 14, 2014.
“I travelled on Thursday, August
14, 2014 and returned back to Lagos on Friday, August 15, 2014.
“Details are as follows: (i) Return ticket(
Lagos-Abuja-Lagos)—N150,000; (ii) Hotel expenses (N86,250); and (iii) Incidental expenses (N600,000).
“Amount due to me is N836, 250.”
A top government official said:
“There were a lot of issues during the tenure of Obazee which the government
will look into.
“There were allegations of
mismanagement of funds and huge
incidental expenses incurred by some top officials of the council.
“For instance, it was alleged that
about N36 million was spent on local travel to investigate the books of the
Central Bank of Nigeria during Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s tenure.
“We have a report on how a top
official of FRCN allegedly bought a N47 million mansion in Houston, Texas.
“The council made suspicious
payments to hired consultants, who were suspected to be proxies for some of its
officials.
“Some contracts awarded were
questionable. Also, some outrageous allowances were paid outside the approved
rates in the civil service. So, we may probe the administration of FCRN anytime
from now.
“The probe of Obazee and others
will be part of plans to overhaul the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.
The agency stinks a lot.
“These allegations are not new but
the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan did not act on them.
“Actually, a member of the Audit
Committee of the former board of FRCN had raised some of these issues,
especially on poor management of resources.
“There are allegations that council did not publish its annual reports
for some years contrary to Section 38 of the FRCN Act. This is not in line with
international best practices.
“We will ask the new board to
restructure the FRCN in a manner that it will disallow a sit-tight syndrome.
Until he was removed, Obazee had served as FRCN chief for more than 10 years as
Technical Director through CEO in NASB and to the Executive Secretary level.”
The FRCN’s stipulation of a maximum
period of 20 years for the heads of all registered churches, mosques, and civil
society organizations and its Governance Code 2016 have caused tension in the
last few days.
The FRC’s regulations, which had
not received final approval, led to the
exit at the weekend of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) General Overseer
Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye.
Worried by the religious tension,
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday sacked Obazee and reconstituted the board
of FRC.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media
and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced the President’s decision.
The statement said: “President
Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate removal and replacement of the
Executive Secretary and the reconstitution of the board of the Financial
Reporting Council of Nigeria.
“He has appointed a Chairman and a
new Executive Secretary for the council. The new Council as approved by the President
has Mr. Adedotun Sulaiman, MFR, as Chairman.
“Mr. Sulaiman was a former Managing
Partner/Director of Arthur Anderson and later, Accenture. He is a Chartered
Accountant and a product of the University of Lagos and Harvard Business
School.
“The President has also approved
the appointment of Mr. Daniel Asapokhai as the Executive Secretary of the
Council. Mr. Asopokhai is a partner and a Financial Reporting Specialist at the
Price water House Coopers, Nigeria.”
source: The Nation
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