₦15m, Ngene Kingsley Bashir Account, Four Transfers: Inside the Illegal Transactions Rocking Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa’s Ministry

Secrets Reporters 

There have been series of questionable transaction at the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, with the recent been the payment of ₦15 million meant for the hosting of a stakeholders’ event into the personal bank account of Ngene Kingsley Bashir, the special adviser admin, to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa instead of the event management company engaged for the assignment, raising fresh concerns over the circumvention of public procurement procedures under the leadership of Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa.

The findings are contained in an exclusive review of the ministry’s financial activities conducted by this media house. The review centres on Payment Voucher No. FMACT&CE/Adv/S.1/16/2024, dated December 24, 2024, in favour of Ngene Kingsley Bashir, who received the funds as a cash advance for the hosting of stakeholders in the Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Industry.

According to the review, the memo initiating the payment, prepared by the Special Assistant (Administration, Office of the Honourable Minister), expressly stated that the event was to be facilitated by Chain Reactions Africa, an event management company.

However, rather than making payment directly to the event manager through the appropriate procurement process, the ministry approved a cash advance in favour of a staff member for onwards disbursement, a practice that circumvented established procurement procedures.

The review further established that the cash advance granted to the officer exceeded the permissible limits for such advances under the applicable financial regulations.

An examination of the payment records also revealed that the ₦15 million was not paid as a single transaction but was split into four separate transfers, all made on December 30, 2024, into the same personal bank account belonging to the officer.

According to the examination of the ministry transactions by this media house, the transactions comprised ₦4.1 million, ₦4.15 million, ₦4.05 million and ₦2.7 million, bringing the total amount paid into the officer’s personal account to ₦15 million.

The review found that the payment arrangement was inconsistent with Paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations, which prohibits payment for services not yet performed or goods not yet supplied. It also raises concerns under Paragraph 415 of the Financial Regulations, which requires public officers responsible for expenditure to exercise due economy in the use of public funds.

The findings further point to possible non-compliance with Paragraph 3 of Treasury Circular Ref. No. TRY/A7 & B7/2015/OAGF/CAD/026/V.1/178 of August 12, 2015, which requires that all local procurement of goods and services valued above ₦200,000 be undertaken through the award of contracts in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, 2007, except where otherwise permitted by law.