Senate flays Buhari over refusal to sign Audit Commission Bill

.Says President’s refusal to sign bill encouraging corruption

.Vows to strengthen, increase funding for Office of Auditor – General

The continued increase in corrupt practices in public service has been attributed to the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Federal Audit Service Commission bill passed by the 8th Senate.

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The Senate said the government could give bite to the anti – corruption crusade by establishing the Commission to nip corrupt practices in the bud rather than spending huge amount of public fund to investigate and prosecute corrupt persons.

The chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Mathew Urhoghide (Edo South), raised the concern on Wednesday during an interface of the committee with the Auditor – General of the Federation, Mr. Anthony Ayine and his management team at the National Assembly.

He said non- assenting the bill by President Buhari and non- existence of the Commission has given public officials and institutions latitude to engage in corrupt practices.

He added that the government could not be said to be serious in fighting corruption when the instrument needed in curbing corruption which is the bill lie in waiting on the table of the President who profess to be tackling corruption.

The Senate insisted that for the Federal Government to win the much touted anti – corruption war in the country, it has to strengthen and utilise effectively expertise services of the Office of the Auditor – General of the Federation which has suffered neglect in recent times.

Urhoghide said that the Nigerian audit system presently does not strictly subject ministries, departments and agencies of government to scrutiny by the office of the Auditor – General.

The Senate lamented government’s budgetary allocation of huge sums of money to anti – corruption agencies such as the EFCC and ICPC to probe and prosecute corrupt persons while denying the office of the Auditor General needed funding and institutional framework to trap corruption at inception.

The legislature was confident that an effective and effective audit system will block leakages in governance and in turn generate more revenue to government coffers.

The upper chamber expressed worries that poor budgetary allocations to the Office of the Auditor General has further hampered the Office opportunity of fulfilling its statutory functions.

Urhoghide said the “Office of the Auditor General cannot function maximally with the kind of money allocated to it in 2020 and before then”.

While promising to use legislative instrument to shore up funding for the Office and help in clearing backlog of allocations, the Senate called for full automation of its services to bring it in term with international best practices.

In a short response before the meeting went into a closed session, the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr. Ayine expressed gratitude to the Committee for its special interest in empowering the Office.

The Daily Times recalls that the 8th Senate last year passed a bill for the establishment of Federal Audit Service Commission which will have a Chairman, and six Commissioners from the six geopolitical zones of the country.

The  bill is expected to  form the bedrock for fighting corruption which is one of the cardinal objectives of President Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC)  administration.

It will empower the Office of the Auditor- General for the Federation who has the constitutional mandate of auditing all accounts of the Federation to nip corruption in the bud, and ensure transparency in government transactions.

The bill will address acute manpower shortage existing in the Office of the Auditor- General for the Federation and bring it in tandem with Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) and international best practices as obtained in other climes such as South Africa, Ghana and United Kingdom.

The Senate passed the bill on Thursday, 1st March, 2018. Due to differences in the version passed by the two chambers, Conference Committee was set up to reconcile areas of differences. The Bill was harmonised and passed by both Chambers. The harmonised copy was forwarded to Mr. President for his assent on the 8th of January, 2019.

Urhoghide, however, said the 9th Senate will work assiduously to impress it upon President Buhari to sign the bill.

Senate flays Buhari over refusal to sign Audit Commission Bill