Secrets Reporters
Just like the Biblical unfruitful fig tree, incriminating indices have shown how the Delta State Government under the leadership of the immediate past Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa splashed billions of Naira on undisclosed investments that yielded no return in a whole year.
The 2021 Audit report reveals that under Commissioner Fidelis Tilije, the Ministry of Finance inappropriately allocated the State’s limited funds to unsuccessful ventures during the fiscal year, as discovered by SecretsReporters.
According to the report by the State’s auditor general, the total amount spent on “unquoted investment” was N15,651,838,923.60. The audit revealed that as at 31st. December 2021, the investment “reported zero or nil return on investment”. It is germane to note that unlisted investments are investments into shares of companies or assets that are not traded on the open market. They are also sometimes referred to as unquoted investments.
In a clear stray bullet at Tilije, a man described by Okowa as demonstrating uncommon dedication to the job and having sound financial engineering knowledge, the auditor general lamented that audit recommendations in previous years audit reports in respect of shareholding and revaluation of the carrying cost of Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) unquoted investments were yet to be implemented in 2021.
This online media can confidently report from the audit report that following the failure of the ministry under the leadership of Tilije to implement the previous years’ recommendations, some investments in liquidated and moribund companies were still carried out at cost in 2021.
The 2021 auditor-general’s report recommended an urgent and comprehensive evaluation of the unquoted investments portfolio especially on investments which have not been yielding returns since acquisition.
Meanwhile, in an eyebrow-raising development, the auditor-general revealed that within the epoch under review, the ministry’s “quoted investments” was N1,183,504,650.74 and as at December 31st 2021, it yielded N169,267,057.35 return, representing 14.3%.
It is not clear how the ‘quoted’ investment had fruits to account for and the ‘unquoted’ investment had zero returns for over fifteen billion worth of investment.
It is imperative to clarify that the Delta State Ministry of Finance is responsible for the management and control of all finances of the State Government.
When contacted to disclose the details of the unquoted investments and why they failed to yield interest in an entire year, the State’s Commissioner for Finance, Fidelis Tilije failed to take his calls. At some other times, he rejected his calls.
Recall that Tilije, who has been retained by the incumbent governor Sheriff Oborevwori as the commissioner for Finance, was first appointed by Okowa in 2015.