President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised that he will waste no time in signing the Federal Audit Service Bill into law when presented to him.
The President who stated this on Wednesday at the official unveiling of the Office of the Auditor-General’s Strategic Plan 2024 to 2028 in Abuja, said as an auditor himself, he understands what it means for the auditor to be independent.
This is even as the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Public Account, Hon. Bamidele Salam called on the federal government to allocate at least one per cent of the country’s annual budget to the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The President who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, said one of the strategic goals of his administration is to ensure the independence of the office of the Auditor-General and to empower it to perform its constitutional role.
According to him, “We must win the war against corruption. I can assure you that as soon as the Federal Audit Service Bill gets to me I will sign it to prove my determination to stamp out corruption.”
He charged the OAuGF to also reciprocate government support by supporting government efforts to reduce mismanagement of resources to improve the quality of lives of the citizens.
He praised the Auditor-General for the Federation for the excellent job he has done so far and hopes he will do more.
Also speaking, Chairman Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Salam, said it is unfortunate that the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation is underfunded. He called on the federal government to dedicate One per cent of the annual budget to funding the Auditor-General’s office.
Hon. Salam who pledged the House of Representatives’ continued support for the Auditor-General’s office, reiterated the need to make the office truly independent adding that an independent Auditor-General will be in a better position to fight mismanagement of resources and ensuring probity in the public service.
Earlier in his speech, the Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr. Shaakaa Chira, said the presentation of the strategic plan was a watershed in the annals of the OAuGF in terms of progress towards becoming a Supreme Audit Institution (SAI).
He said the four goals of the strategic plan include, enhanced independence and mandate of OAuGF, reduced mismanagement of public funds through stronger follow-up of audit recommendations, improved financial reporting in the public sector and making OAuGF a model institution.
Mr. Chira who called for greater government support said, “In order to perform its functions independently and be able to support the government’s activities in creating value for the benefit of the citizens, there is need for a truly independent Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation both administratively and financially in line with international best practices and as contained in the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) principle 1.”
The Auditor-General listed some of his achievements within the short period he has been in office to include, developing a road map for the clearance of backlogs of audit reports, which as of today he has submitted the AuGF’s Annual Reports on the Federal Government of Nigeria Consolidated Financial Statements (CFS) for the years ended 31st December, 2020 and 2021 to the 10th National Assembly,
He thanked the members of the House of Representatives, especially the public accounts committee for the passage of the Federal Audit Service Bill.
He also appealed to the Senate to give speedy concurrence to the bill which is already before it.
He thanked development partners for their contributions to the development of the plan and promised that his office will continue to forge partnerships with them.
The event attracted representatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the office of the Head of Service of the Federation as well as representatives of INTOSAI and civil society groups.