Reps summon prisons CG over tax

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has summoned the Comptroller General of Nigeria Prisons Service, Ja’afaru Ahmed, and the permanent secretary in the ministry of information and culture, Ayotunde Adesugba over nonremittance of tax to the appropriate authority.

The two officials, who will appear on Friday, are also to explain failure to give details of their accounts for some years.

The committee, chaired by Rep Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), directed that the prisons CG should provide the latest assets register of the service and all store received vouchers for Owerri, Bauchi and Kuje prisons.

Citing the report of the Auditor General of the Federation for the year 2010 to 2013, the committee ordered the CG to also produce four officers, who could not retire advanced payments amounting to N6.6 million made to them since December 2011.

For her part, the permanent secretary is to provide documents on the failure of the ministry to remit deductions of 10 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

She would also explain the whereabouts of five vehicles purchased by the ministry but declared missing; the vehicles are expected to be on ground for inspection by some members of the committee today.