Investment and Securities Tribunal’s N18 Million Black Hole Under Chief Registrar Habu Yerima Saleh: Unvouched Payments, Extra-Budgetary Spending and Silence from Management

Secrets Reporters

A quieter but equally troubling set of findings have revealed non-compliance and internal control weaknesses at the Investment and Securities Tribunal in Abuja during the 2019–2020 financial period covered by the Auditor-General for the Federation’s Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses for the year ended 31 December 2020.

SecretsReporters has exclusively reviewed the section of the report covering the Revenue and Economic Sector, which records approximately N18.03 million in flagged transactions across four issues spanning late 2019 into August 2020.

The Tribunal, established under the Investments and Securities Act to adjudicate capital-market disputes, was headed operationally at the material time by its Chief Registrar, Habu Yerima Saleh. Court records from a related National Industrial Court matter in 2019 confirm Saleh held the position of Chief Registrar and acted in that capacity during the period under review. The audit report notes a conspicuous absence of management responses to any of the queries raised against the institution.

The largest single item involves N11.7 million paid as allowances and medical services to 23 officers and five contractors through 28 vouchers. No supporting documents were produced to substantiate the payments, placing the expenditure in direct conflict with Financial Regulations 708, 603(i) and 415, which require proper documentation before public funds are disbursed. The Auditor-General identified clear risks of misapplication of funds and possible fraud, and recommended full justification and recovery under Regulations 3106 and 3129. Management offered no reply.

A second finding concerns N1.41 million in stamp duty, value-added tax and withholding tax that should have been deducted from N8.15 million paid to three contractors. No evidence of deduction or remittance to the tax authorities was provided, contrary to Treasury Circular TRY A1&B1/2017 and Financial Regulations 234(i) and 235. The resulting revenue loss and the absence of any management explanation prompted a recommendation for recovery and remittance under Regulation 3112.

Extra-budgetary spending of N3.16 million across three sub-heads, undertaken without the approval of the Minister of Finance or the National Assembly, breached Section 80(4) of the 1999 Constitution and Financial Regulations 417 and 301. The auditors characterised the transactions as misappropriation and diversion risks and again called for justification and refund. Finally, cash advances totaling N1.76 million granted to five officers between December 2019 and August 2020 exceeded the N200,000 direct-procurement threshold set by Treasury Circular TRY/A7&B7/2015 and Financial Regulations 2302(ii) and 1420, generating an estimated N237,650 in lost tax revenue. Recovery was once more recommended.

The consistent silence from management under Chief Registrar Habu Yerima Saleh distinguishes the Tribunal’s file from many others in the same report. Where other agencies at least attempted explanations, the Investment and Securities Tribunal produced none.

In an institution whose core function is the orderly resolution of disputes in Nigeria’s capital markets, the combination of undocumented payments, unremitted taxes, extra-budgetary expenditure and excessive cash advances points to systemic weaknesses in basic financial controls during the 2019–2020 period under review.

The administration of the Tribunal at the time has been asked to justify, recover and remit the flagged sums, or face the sanctions prescribed by the Financial Regulations.