The missing N2.8 billion toll gate fees

Last week, at the Senate hearing on the funds spent by the transport ministry between 1999 and 2007, it was revealed by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ibrahim Dankwambo, that from the N4.7 billion that was generated by the various tollgates in the country during the period, N2.8 billion could not be accounted for.

It would be recalled that the toll gates across the country were demolished by the last administration, obviously because they were not fulfilling the purpose for which they were erected. Many arguments were made against the existence of the tolls, but the main issue was that the government was not making enough money from them because of the extensive leakage in the toll system. While the argument could be made that policy proposals and initiatives could have been taken to enhance service delivery of these tolls, no one could have been prepared for the level of decay revealed last week.

For the avoidance of doubt, the report does not suggest there was element of corruption or diversion of funds after the money had been remitted to the purse of the government. Rather, it is that the sum of N2.8 billion was not paid into the nation's treasury. To make matters worse, and obviously add insult to the public's intelligence, the AGF promised to set up a committee in his office to determine what happened.

This report raises a lot of questions about the kind of civil service, accounting and financial reporting standards Nigeria has. How does the AGF know how much was raised and not know who is responsible for remitting such into the government's treasury? Why does it have to take an investigation by the Senate before an investigation into the whereabouts of the fund could take place?

The non remittance of the fund to government's treasury goes beyond corruption. It demonstrates a lack of basic understanding of accounting and financial procedures in the heart of government accounting unit. It also demonstrates the basic lack of value; if it takes an investigation in the Senate to get a promise that the situation will be investigated.

The argument is being made daily that Nigerians are not getting value for the monies spent by the different ministries and parastatals of the government and these revelations in the National Assembly are daily confirming this long held belief! Most surprising is that, it is worse than we ever thought or imagined.

The management of resources, as huge as it is, seems to be less attended to than the smallest private sector business. It is the lack of this attention and focus, and the belief amongst government officials, that the advancement of their careers is not underlined by their performance that is responsible for the indifference to ensuring value for monies spent by governments.

We must ensure that this level of impunity does not continue in governance. This will only happen when the advancement of the careers of government officials is tied to their performance on the job. Only then, will we have value for government resources.