The Nigerian Senate has criticized the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Commission (NAIC) for its lack of consistent financial records.
During an interactive session on Monday, the Senate Committee led by Senator Sani Musa expressed dissatisfaction with NAIC’s inability to provide detailed financial information from 2021, 2022, and the third quarter of 2023, as requested for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
Committee members were displeased with NAIC’s failure to produce receipts for expenditures related to its generated revenues. The commission claimed to have spent its generated revenues while transferring a portion labeled as “surplus” to the Federal Government account.
During the session, the Managing Director and CEO of NAIC, Mrs. Folashade Joseph, submitted a document stating that in 2023, the agro-insurance outfit transferred N3,847,202,032.03 to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federal government. However, she contradicted her statement by arguing that the organization incurred “huge losses in 2022” and was consequently unable to remit funds for that year.
The lawmakers expressed their dissatisfaction with NAIC’s performance over the past three years and demanded that the organization provide its audited accounts for 2021, 2022, and the third quarter of 2023.
Senator Musa, the committee chairman, called for a breakdown of NAIC’s finances, emphasizing the committee’s commitment to closing loopholes in the accounts of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
The committee also held interactions with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Equipment Leasing Registration Authority (ELRA) during the session.
