By Secrets Reporters
A review of the financial transactions of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, for the 2019 financial year has uncovered transactions totalling about ₦12.57 million involving unremitted stamp duty and payments made to an individual officer for the procurement of medical supplies.
The review found that the hospital failed to deduct and remit ₦5,864,478.47 in one per cent stamp duty on contracts executed in 2019 to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, contrary to Treasury Circular TRY A1&B1/2017.
The failure to make the deduction and remittance potentially exposed government revenue to loss. Management, however, attributed the development to a technical limitation on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, saying the platform automatically deducted VAT and withholding tax but did not display the field for one per cent stamp duty when the transactions were uploaded.
The hospital said the matter had been reported to the GIFMIS Accounting Officer at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation but remained unresolved. It subsequently said the affected companies would be asked to remit the outstanding stamp duty directly to FIRS.
A separate transaction involving ₦6.71 million also raised questions over compliance with procurement procedures. The money was paid to a single officer, Mal. Dalhatu Mohammed, for the purchase of surgical face masks and latex gloves rather than being paid directly to the companies that participated in the bidding process.
The payment, according to the finding, exceeded the ₦200,000 threshold for direct procurement and was considered contrary to Treasury Circular TRY/A7&B7/2015 and Financial Regulations 2009, paragraph 2946(i).
Such a procurement arrangement, the finding noted, could expose government to risks including payment for items not supplied, procurement of inferior products and diversion of public funds.
Management explained that the transaction was part of emergency procurement of COVID-19 protective equipment. It said three payments of ₦2.2 million, ₦2.01 million and ₦2.5 million were made to Mohammed, totalling ₦6.71 million.
According to the hospital, the payments were backed by an authority letter, advance retirement documentation and a store receipt voucher. It further stated that the documents showed that the protective equipment was purchased and subsequently dispatched to the hospital’s COVID-19 centre.
