President Bola Tinubu has been advised to appoint an Auditor General of the Federation in accordance with Section 86 of the 1999 Constitution by Sen. Ahmed Wadada, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
In a letter to Tinubu that was made accessible to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, Wadada (SDP-Nasarawa West) made this claim.
He pointed out that the Government is vulnerable to poor management, a lack of accountability, and transparency in his absence as the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The member voiced alarm over the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation’s lack of a permanent Auditor-General for the past 10 months. This office is the nation’s top audit institution.
This will make it more difficult to strictly comply to accounting standards, and it will also make it difficult to effectively send the Auditor-General’s annual reports on the financial statements of the Federation of Nigerian Agencies and Ministries, Agencies, and Departments (MDAs).
By doing this, the National Assembly Committees in charge of Public Accounts will be subject to the required checks and balances.
Therefore, it is crucial for President Tinubu to follow my suggestion in the best interests of the nation since the Auditor-General’s absence can have an impact on our government’s efforts to fight corruption and improve transparency and accountability in government.
Wadada stressed that the Federal Government’s commitment to fiscal accountability and the preservation of public trust will both be strengthened by the appointment of a substantive Auditor-General.
He emphasised that the absence of the appointment of an Auditor General is the reason why the Audit Reports for 2020, 2021, and 2022 have not yet been transmitted in compliance with section 85 (2) of the 1999 Constitution.
