Senate Queries FRCN Over N187m Unrecovered Advert Debts
The Senate Public Accounts Committee has sustained the query of Office Auditor General of Federation (AuGF) over the failure of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigerian (FRCN) to recover over N180 million advert debts.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, sustained the query following the inability of the corporation’s Director-General, Mr. Mansur Liman, to explain what happened to the outstanding advertising debts to the committee.
The query reads: ” Financial records maintained at Ibadan zonal office (FRCN Ibadan) revealed huge unrecovered advert debts of N120,099,666.88 (One hundred and twenty million, ninety-nine thousand, six hundred and sixty-six naira, eighty-eight kobo) owed to the corporation as of December 2016, as a result of services rendered on credit to some companies by the zonal office, contrary to the provisions of Financial Regulations 224 and 230 (2009) which stipulates that all services rendered by government must be paid for immediately on completion of the service and where possible, payment may be made in advance; and where payment is outstanding, a system of follow-up by means of reminders and final demand should be made.
“Unrecovered advert debts of N67,842,011.50 (Sixty-seven million, eight hundred and forty-two thousand, eleven naira, fifty kobo) which were in respect of services provided on credit to some companies by the Lagos Operations of the Corporation were being owed to it as of December 2016, and the majority of them have been outstanding for more than five years.
“Requests for the companies’ files and evidence of following due process before rendering the services as well as agreements between the corporation and the purported debtors were not honoured.
“Majority of these debts have been outstanding for more than five years.”
But, Liman, while responding to the query, claimed that the outstanding debts were a result of the bankruptcy of those companies which led to a change of business names.
According to him, when the FRCN approached the new companies to pay the debt, they declined to pay, saying it was not part of the liability inherited although N28 million has been recovered so far from the debtors.
He said the services of a legal outfit had been engaged to recover the debt.
But when Urhoghide demanded the advert schedule of the debtors, Liman reportedly failed to make it available
According to him, “We have it, but it is not here with us.”
Urhoghide thereafter sustained the query until the FRCN management presents the schedule of the debtors for the committee to peruse.
