Audit Report Exposes N18 billion Fraudulent Expenditure Under Suspended NPA MD, Hadiza Usman In 2017

The last has not yet been heard of the financial misappropriations under Hadiza Bala Usman, the suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, as the budget audit report has again uncovered how over N18 billion expenditure could not be explained under her watch between 2016 and 2017.

In the documents obtained by SaharaReporters, which are from the audit of the Budget Performance Report (BPR) for 2016 and 2017, the NPA is being investigated for “Excessive Increase in Administrative Expenditure and Operational Expenses” in which the NPA incurred questionable expenses to the tune of N18 billion.

The report stated that there “was poor expenditure control in 2017 and the high probability that the spending was not done in an economic manner” under Usman.

One of the documents reads, “As part of the exercise, the team performed an analytical review of the administrative and operational expenses incurred by the authority as contained in the Budget Performance Report for the year 2016 and 2017.

“It was observed that the total expenditure reported by the Authority increased astronomically by 128% from N87,474,781,088.00 to N198,989,352,119.00 in 2017. Of particular concern was the Administrative Expenses which increased by 72% from N26,126,990,784.00 in 2016 to N44,937,334,999.00 in 2017.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on May 6 removed Usman as the Managing Director of the NPA for no stated reason, but at the heart of Usman’s suspension are infractions and expenses which allegedly did not follow due process.

SaharaReporters had also reported that contrary to the claims by Usman in a statement she signed in response to reports in the media, Usman, according to documents, single-handedly awarded contracts, approved contracts without the knowledge and approval of the supervisory Ministry of Transportation.

SaharaReporters had reported that some stakeholders in the Nigerian ports petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Inspector-General of Police to investigate Usman over the alleged disappearance of over an N20billion under her watch.

In a petition signed by the stakeholders, Comrades Olayiwole Oke, Charles Dike and Musa Yola, and obtained by SaharaReporters, the stakeholders had noted that a “mind-boggling N20 billion of NPA’s financial transactions between 2016 and 2018 could not be traced, documented, or explained.”

They had urged the agencies to carry out a detailed investigation of the NPA in their petition which they copied to the Office of the President, among others.