The Auditor-General of the Federation has queried the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over alleged extra-budgetary expenditure of N258 million on Personnel Cost from the agency’s 2017 approved budget.

The query reads: “We observed from our audit, that the Council incurred the sum of N339,834,586.00 as against N81,245,107.00 contained in the 2017 approved budget.

“This non-compliance with the Appropriation Act was due to the failure of the Executive Secretary to seek approval for supplementary budget from the appropriate authorities, that is, through the Ministry of Finance and National Assembly.”

But, the Executive Secretary of FRC, Daniel Asapokhai, in his response said the N258 million was spent from its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), based on extant approval granted the agency by the Federal Government.

Asapokhai said: “For the year 2017, the sum of N81 million was appropriated as government subvention for Personnel Cost for the Council.

“The amount in question was to augment the Council’s Personnel Cost for the fiscal year in question.

“The Council customarily prepares its budget at the beginning of every year detailing both Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and government subvention. This is usually sent for approval before implementation.”

Source: The Nation