House Moves to Take over Appointment of Auditor-General of the Federation

House Moves to Take over Appointment of Auditor-General of the Federation

05 Nov 2014

Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal
Seeks to establish audit commission

Muhammad Bello in Abuja

The House of Representatives is angling to arrogate to itself the power to appoint an auditor-general for the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAGF).

The House is contemplating this via the instrumentality of the "Audit Bill 2014," a fact made known at a public hearing held in Abuja on Tuesday.
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The bill, adopted by the House Committee on Public Accounts, if passed into law, will empower the auditor-general of the federation to operate without recourse to the President. It seeks to repeal the Audit Ordinance Act of 1956 and the Public Accounts Committee Act 1990, to re-enact a new legislation.

The Speaker of the House, Aminu Waziri, Tambuwal, declared the meeting organised by the Hon. Solomon Olamilekan Adeola-led Public Accounts Committee, the Hon. Ali Ahmad-led Committee on Justice and the OAGF open.

The Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, appealed for the detachment of the office from the presidency and called for the establishment of an Audit Service Commission.

Tying the growth and sustenance of the country's economy to the effectiveness and autonomy of the national audit office, Ukura regretted that the 58-year-old audit statute was defective and inoperable for the times.

"The Finance Controls and Management Act of 1956 which was inherited from the colonial masters provided also, the Audit Act for the audit of government transactions. This Act remained in operation till 1979 when the 1979 Constitution of Nigeria was promulgated.

"The provisions of 1979 Constitution pertaining the auditing of government accounts were replica of that of 1956. Same pattern was also adopted in the amendment of the constitution in 1999.

“Also, the 1999 Constitution as amended to date, adopted the abridged method of providing for the duties, roles and responsibilities of auditor general for the federation as contained in the aforementioned years.

"Therefore, it is evident that the Act, till date, had never been amended to suit the expenditure pattern of the government since the discovery of oil and global advancement in the use of information technology," Ukura stated at the public hearing.

Among the highlights of the bill are: ‘The National Assembly to appoint independent auditor to audit financial statements of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation.

The National Assembly would be appointing the independent auditor to audit the accounts of the Audit Service Commission’.