With only a few weeks to go, President Muhammadu Buhari has yet to name a substantive Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) even though the names of three directors shortlisted for the job has been with him for the past three months.
The search for a new Accountant-General of the Federation followed the suspension and prosecution of the former AGF, Ahmed Idris, in July 2022, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the alleged misappropriation of N109 billion.
Government sources familiar with the matter confirmed to our correspondent that the three directors being considered for the job were among the seven directors picked from a long list of 20 directors, earlier cleared by anti-corruption agencies.
In the first test organised by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation for the 20 shortlisted directors, 10 directors failed.
They scored below 50 per cent, therefore, leaving the other 10 that moved up in the selection process.
On January 25, 2023, the 10 qualified directors proceeded to the second stage of the examination which was a test on Information Communication Technology proficiency.
Three directors failed that test, leaving seven others in the race.
The seven left in the race took part in the last stage of the examination which was an oral interview on January 26, 2023.
At the end of the oral interview, our correspondent gathered that three names were sent to Buhari.
However, despite the fact that the names were sent close to three months ago, a new Accountant-General has not been named.
“Three names were sent to the President out of the seven directors who sat the examination but nothing has been heard so far. It is possible that the next President will be the one to announce,” a source told our correspondent in Abuja.
Our correspondent reached out to the Director of Public Affairs of the OHCSF, Mohammed Ahmed, who said, “The names are already with Mr President but I can’t confirm if it’s the next President that will choose. I can also assure you that there is no interference from anybody.”