Senate Public Accounts Committee has sustained the query of Office Auditor General of Federation over failure of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigerian (FRCN) to recover over N187 million advert debt .
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, sustained the query following the appearance of the Director General of the FRCN, Mansur Liman before the committee.
The query reads, ” Financial records maintained at Ibadan zonal office (FRCN Ibadan) revealed huge unrecovered advert debts of ₦120,099,666.88 (One hundred and twenty million, ninety-nine thousand, six hundred and sixty-six naira, eighty-eight kobo) owed to the Corporation as at December 2016, as a result of services rendered on credit to some companies by the zonal office, contrary to the provisions of Financial Regulations 224 and 230 (2009) which stipulates that all services rendered by government must be paid for immediately on completion of the service and where possible, payment may be made in advance; and where payment is outstanding, a system of follow-up by means of reminders and final demand should be made.
“Unrecovered advert debts of ₦67,842,011.50 (Sixty-seven million, eight hundred and forty-two thousand, eleven naira, fifty kobo) which were in respect of services provided on credit to some companies by the Lagos operations of the corporation were being owed to it as at December 2016; and majority of them have been outstanding for more than five years.
“Requests for the companies’ files and evidence of following due process before rendering the services as well as agreements between the corporation and the purported debtors were not honored.
“Majority of these debts have been outstanding for more than five years.”
But the Director General of FRCN while responding to the query claimed that the outstanding of the debts came as of bankruptcy of those companies which led to change of business name.
He added when the FRCN approached the new company to pay the debt, those companies declined to pay the debt because it was not part liability inherited although N28 million has been recovered so far from the debtors.
He said the services of Legal outfit have been engaged to recover the debt.
But, when the Chairman of the Committee demanded for advert schedule of the debtors, the Director General of FRCN failed to present it to the committee to see.
The DG said, “we have it , but it is not here with us.”
The Chairman thereafter sustained the query until they are able to present the schedule of the debtors to the Committee to see.