Thursday, July 25, 2019
Abuja, Nigeria.
PRESS RELEASE ON THE STATE OF FEDERAL AUDIT SERVICE COMMISSION BILL CURRENTLY WITH PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI FOR ASSENT
Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI) and other Civil Society Organizations call on President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Federal Audit Service Commission Bill to help fight corruption in Nigeria.
Civil Society Organizations kindly request that President Muhammadu Buhari urgently signs the pending Federal Audit Service Commission Bill. This will contribute toward his administration’s commitment to fighting corruption in Nigeria. The organizations mentioned that existing laws including the pre-independence “Audit Ordinance Act of 1956” and “The Public Account Committee Act, CAP P35, LFN 2004” cannot deal effectively with modern corruption challenges.
We believe that signing this Bill into law will among other things:
- Ensure that public resources are efficiently managed.
- Improve the quality of goods and services being delivered to citizens through conducting performance audits.
- Increase citizens engagement in the audit process and management of public funds through making audit reports publicly available.
- Provide for first line charge for the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation and ensure administrative independence for the Office.
“The comparative analysis of Nigeria and five other countries including Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa and the United Kingdom with respect to how Audit institutions are structured in these countries, provides seamless understanding as to why corruption is at a much higher level in Nigeria. Transparency International in its Corruption Perception Index 2018 rated Nigeria 144 with 27 points while Sierra Leone was rated 129, Ghana 78 and United Kingdom 11 with 80points. These other countries with less corruption have stronger Supreme Audit Institutions”. “Also, while other Supreme Audit Institutions examined have modern audit law to enable them function effectively, only Nigeria’s audit office is lacking in this regard”.
The Audit Bill was sent to President Buhari for assent on January 6, 2019 by the 8th National Assembly. While we commend the 8th Assembly for this outstanding achievement, the gains will be consolidated only when President Buhari assents to the Bill.
We therefore call on Mr. President to consider our plea and sign this very important Bill into law. This will contribute immensely to the government’s commitment to fight corruption and prevent it.
Signed,
Olusegun Elemo, Executive Director, PLSI
Gabriel Okeowo, Principal Lead, BudgIT
Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive, CODE
Kolawole Oluwadare, Deputy Director, SERAP
Oluwatosin Alagbe, Director, PTCIJ
Onyinye Ough, Executive Director, Step Up Nigeria
Oke Epia, Executive Director, OrderPaper
Austin Ekwujuru, Chief Executive, BRW
