Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Abuja, Nigeria.
PRESS RELEASE ON THE STATE OF FEDERAL AUDIT SERVICE COMMISSION BILL 2018 CURRENTLY AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), BudgIT Foundation and Connected Development (CODE) calls on the National Assembly to conclude legislative activities on the new Federal Audit Service Commission Bill and send to Mr. President for assent.
Civic Organizations- BudgIT, PLSI and CODE frowns at Nigeria’s Supreme Audit Institution, responsible for the provisions of a pre-independence audit law known as “The Audit Ordinance Act of 1956” as well as “The Public Account Committee Act, CAP P35, LFN 2004” both of which have rendered the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation ineffective and less efficient.
The Nigerian Senate on Thursday, March 1, 2018, passed for concurrence the Federal Audit Service Commission Bill 2018. The House of Representatives had earlier passed this bill on 19th April 2016, and it took the Nigerian Senate 680 days to concur to this very significant bill.
While we commend the National Assembly for this outstanding achievement, it is important to note that the process of harmonizing this critical bill has taken more than 100 days with its current state unknown to anyone outside the parliament.
The Bill once assented to, will empower the Auditor-General to carry out audits of all revenues accruing to the federation, expenditures of the federation from all sources, donations, grants and loans accruable to the Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies or other public entities. The commission will also be empowered to carry out performance audit by ensuring that the federal government and its agencies’ business is economical, efficiently and expertly performed. The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation is the leading accountability institution in the country and as such requires all necessary support including instituting modern governance structure to enable it to function effectively. The pending Audit Bill is very crucial to the prevention of misappropriation of public funds and to aid the fight against corruption.
Referring to the Audit Bill, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki said “Today marks a landmark achievement in the fight against corruption. The Audit bill will bring accountability and probity in the finances of the government and the fight against corruption. This will go a long way in ensuring the independence of the office of the Auditor-General and will ensure that the Auditor-General has access to different parastatals and agencies. “Emphasizing the importance of the Audit bill and its passage, Dr Saraki iterated “We truly have to block all the various leakages. We have to ensure that we get this to Mr President to assent to this bill. We have gone a long way in this administration in our fight against corruption, and it is commendable that the National Assembly is the sponsor and mover of this significant Bill, which we can see has been outdated for many years. We will continue to play our part in this fight against corruption for the sake of our country.”
Olusegun Elemo, the Executive Director of the PLSI, expresses dismay at the slow passage of the bill, he said “While we have no evidence to prove that this Bill is being delayed intentionally, our fear is it being caught up in the euphoria and eventful activities of the forthcoming general elections. We believe it is the responsibility of the National Assembly to ensure the President assents to the Bill in real time.”
Signed,
Oluseun Onigbinde, Chief Executive, BudgIT
Olusegun Elemo, Executive Director, PLSI
Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive, CODE
