We observed that the sum of N11,366,800.00 was paid to a company for advertorial to Business Year Nigeria 2015 Yearbook. The payment was marred with the following irregularities:
• Payment was made to a third-party company, instead of directly to who made the request; the payment was not subjected to both Withholding and Value Added Tax as required by law;
• Authorization letter of 12th February 2015 from The Business Year to pay the third-party company was not signed and as such has no legal backing for its implementation;
• There was no evidence that the exchange rate was used to convert the money from Pounds to Naira emanated from Central Bank of Nigeria;
• Award letter was not produced for examination.
This infraction was due to the failure of the Director-General to strictly comply with the provision of extant laws and regulations, especially as it relates to issues bordering on the Procurement Act. Under no circumstances should the payment for the supply of goods or services be made to third party. Payments must be in line with the provisions in the contract agreement and E-Payment principles