The House of Representatives resolved on Thursday to probe the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for failing in the last four years to audit its accounts as required by law.
It, therefore, directed its Committee on Public Accounts to interrogate the agency, without specifying the date to report back to the House.
The Committee had grilled the Director-General of the agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, over the unaudited accounts and for failing to submit the report to the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The resolution of the lower chamber was based on the disclosure by the DG who said the agency had not submitted any audited accounts to the AGF office from 2015 till date.
It was further revealed that the agency only submitted its audited accounts to the AGF office in 2014.
Besides, the DG affirmed that the irregular change of the Chief Executive Officer of the agency was responsible for the situation.
However, the lawmakers blamed the DG for breaching the law, knowing that all government agencies have no excuse not to submit their audited accounts to the Auditor-General’s office.
The years that the audited accounts were ot submitted included 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Consequently, the lower chamber ordered a total probe of the activities of the agency from 2014 to 2019.