The House of Representatives committee on public accounts has given a 7-day ultimatum to the Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok Ibas, to appear before it to defend a query on N11.5 million unaccounted for by the navy.
The ultimatum was issued to the naval chief by the Chairman of the committee, Wole Oke (PDP, Osun) after he failed to appear before the committee on Monday.
The summon followed a query issued by the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation which said that N11.5 million was paid as rent for a four-bedroom apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos State by the Nigerian Navy.
It also said the receipt issued did not contain the duration of the rent and that there was no deduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on the payment, which violates financial regulations.
In response to the summon, the navy sent a delegation, headed by the service’s Assistant Director of Budget, Murtala Ahmed, to represent Mr. Ibas.
But Mr. Wole Oke said the committee was displeased with the non-appearance of the Naval Chief and his failure to write the committee, stating why he could not appear in person, hence the ultimatum.
“If the chief of Naval staff is indisposed to appear before this committee, the least I expect him to do is to send either the Naval secretary or the chief of Naval account and budgets,” he said.
