The Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigeria Prisons Service have denied allegations of N12.6 billion fraud purportedly made in a 2015 audit report by the auditor-general of the federation.
Muhammad Babandede, the comptroller-general of Immigration, in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, December 30, 2017, said all the issues raised by the report concerning the service had been adequately and satisfactorily responded to in a submission to the AGF.
He explained that though the report covered the period of his predecessor in 2015, it is his duty as the CG to address all issues relating to the NIS.
Babandede said, “All issues raised by the Auditor General’s report concerning the Nigeria Immigration Service have been adequately and satisfactorily responded to in a submission to the AGF on the accounts of NIS, contrary to the media reports.
“The AGF, if not satisfied will forward same to the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly who will, in turn, carry out their oversight duties in that regard.”
“The CG wishes to reassure the general public of his commitment to prudent management of all resources available to the NIS in line with government’s policy on transparency,” the statement added.
The prisons service while denying the allegation of fraud described the AGF report as normal accounting procedures for checks and balances in the public sector.
A statement by the NPS spokesman, Francis Enobore, stated that the documents requested by the AGF are intact and were being processed by the appropriate authority.
It said, “The present leadership maintains an unrelenting commitment to transparency and accountability in its thrust to place the prisons on a higher pedestal and therefore solicits genuine support from well-meaning individuals to achieve this goal.”
