₦16.9Million Health Records Officers Registration Board Spending Escapes 2019 Budget, Store Records

Secrets Reporters

In the quiet corridors where the nation’s health records are meant to be carefully preserved, a review of the Health Records Officers Registration Board, Abuja, by SecretsReporters has uncovered some irregularities about ₦16.96 million in expenditure that either fell outside the approved 2019 budget or was never entered into the Board’s official store records.

The review of the Board’s 2019 financial activities identified two issues involving ₦16,961,090.62, including ₦6.09 million spent on activities not captured in the 2019 Appropriation Act and another ₦10.87 million spent on stationery and office equipment that was not recorded in the store ledger.

The first issue involved ₦6,092,305, comprising ₦5,763,605 paid to a consultant to conduct research on a proposed “National Electronic Health Record Software,” alongside another ₦328,700 spent on other items.

According to our review, none of the expenditure was captured in the Board’s 2019 Appropriation Act, making the payments extra-budgetary. Violating Section 80(4) of the Constitution, Section 27(1) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, and Financial Regulations 2009, paragraphs 417 and 301, with the risk of misappropriation and diversion of public funds.

In its response, management stated simply that the matter had been corrected by incorporating the expenditure into the 2020 budgetary expenditures.

A larger sum of ₦10,868,785.62 was also discovered over the failure to account for items purchased for the Board.

The money was spent between February and July 2019 on stationery and office equipment, but the items were never entered into the Board’s store ledger. This is not in line with Financial Regulations 2009, paragraphs 2402(i) and 2107. The absence of store records creates the risk of payments for items not procured and diversion of government funds.

Management responded that the officers responsible had been directed to reconcile the transactions with the Stores Unit.

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