By Arret Jatta
Continuing its scrutiny of the Petroleum Commission’s 2022, 2023 and 2024 annual reports and audited financial statements, the National Assembly’s Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) yesterday revealed that in 2023, the Commission spent over D7.6 million on travel and other expenditures under an unapproved regulatory framework.
According to FPAC, the audit revealed that the Commission spent this sum under the Training and Resources (T&R) Fund, without an approved regulation governing the expenditure. The spendings included the payment for the minister’s air ticket to London for D275,312.00, tuition fees for Musa Bah D1,173,362.50, tuition fees for Awa Sarr D991,974.93, stipend for Musa Bah -D393,465.00, per diem D37,365, pre-financing for Ministry of Energy- D93,842.78, staff training for Ministry’s staff payment-D89,676 , per diem pre -financing for the Ministry, another D89,676 .
Other payments include: D983,727.03 as second year tuition fee for Fatou L Njie; D1, 861, 470 tuition fees for Awa Bah, D406,838 stipend for Awa Sarr, D114,693.60 tuition fees for Awa Jeng and D91,138 as withholding tax from PC GTB account.
The report also noted that the Commission continued to spend money from the T&R account with the intention of recovering the funds later from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
FPAC said auditors have observed that the practice persisted despite a similar concern being raised during the 2022 audit and recommendations that payments from the fund be restricted until the governing regulations were formally approved.
The audit further revealed that the Commission still has no approved training policy and sponsored staff to pursue further studies without established criteria for selecting beneficiaries.
According to FPAC, the auditors also flagged a service rule allowing Category One staff to purchase official vehicles after three or five years of service. They warned that the provision could deprive the Commission of valuable public assets and recommended that the Board amend the policy to ensure better use of public resources.
Management’s response
However, the Petroleum Commission has rejected the audit finding, explaining that the D7.67 million was paid from its operational funds, not from the Training and Research (T&R) Fund.
It said the money was treated as an amount to be recovered from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MOPE) once the necessary regulations are finalised.
The Commission further explained that payments were made after the Ministry requested financial support for scholarship recipients whose awards had been approved before the government imposed a moratorium on using the T&R Fund without regulations.
The Commission said it agreed to pre-finance tuition fees and student stipends to ensure Gambian scholarship beneficiaries, both at home and abroad, were not forced to abandon their studies because of delays in finalising the regulations. Management further explained that it expected the regulations to be completed quickly and the funds refunded. However, due to the prolonged delay, it said it has now stopped pre-financing such requests and is urging the Ministry to expedite the promulgation of the regulations.
Despite these justifications, the auditors maintained that the Commission was technically spending money meant for the Training and Research (T&R) Fund because it intends to reimburse its operational account from that fund once the regulations are approved. They urged the Commission’s management and board to ensure the regulations are finalised without further delay.
