Senate Flays NIS Over N13.4m Premium Paid On Grounded Aircraft

The Senate Public Accounts Committee has faulted the payment of N13.4million as a premium to an insurance brokerage firm by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

The panel at its last sitting on Friday wondered why the NIS should pay the huge amount as a premium for two grounded aircraft.

The committee is currently scrutinising the 2016 – 2018 reports of the Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF).

However, the Deputy Controller in Charge of Directorate Account at the NIS, Wuraola Adepoju, whose tenure the premium was paid to the insurance broker, explained that the aircraft was available before the presidential order that it should be ceded to the Nigerian Air force.

She, therefore, asked the panel to give her a one-week grace to present the pictures of the aircraft to members of the committee.

The panel, based on the AuGF report, claimed that the NIS paid a premium of N13.4million in 2016.

The panel also noticed that the NIS did not make available, the renewal endorsement for 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 hence the panel claimed that it did not know the total amount paid for the unserviceable aircraft.

The Chairman of SPAC, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, expressed dissatisfaction with the payment of millions of naira as a premium for the grounded aircraft.

Urhoghide wondered why the NIS should be paying millions of naira as a premium for unserviceable aircraft.

The Chairman said: “ The two aircraft ought not to have been insured because they are grounded.

“You are insuring a property that is not serviceable and you have spent so much money on it.”

The query reads: “At the Nigeria Immigration Service, Headquarters, Abuja, the following observations were made:

“Amounts totalling N13,419,800.00 were paid through two payment vouchers dated February and March 2016 to an insurance broker for the renewal of premium of Nigeria Immigration Service Aviation Fleet Policy.

“The following information was not made available, Original copy of Insurance Policy on aviation fleet and Evidence of renewal of the aviation fleet policy in the year 2014/2015.

“Also evidence of the acknowledgement of the receipt of payment by the Insurance broker. and the evidence that the brokers remitted the sum of N13,419,800.00 to the insurance company was not provided.

“Renewal endorsement for the year 2014/2015 and 2015/2016, appropriation to pay for the renewal of the policy, computation analysis on the premium renewal, location of the aircraft and evidence that the aircraft was airworthy were not provided.

“The Comptroller-General should produce the mentioned documents, otherwise recover the sum of N13,419,800 from the insurance brokers and furnish evidence of recovery for verification.”