Transparency crucial for advancement of better Nigeria, Auditor General

The Auditor-General for the Federation (AuGF), Mr. Anthony Mkpe Ayine has emphasized that transparency is very essential in advancing a better Nigeria for the benefit of all.

Mr Ayine noted that the essence of Audit is for value addition and the OAuGF was desirous of having a good working relationship and add value to the operations of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC).

He made the statement when he visited the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu on Thursday in Abuja.

During the visit the Minister identified the role of the OAuGF as crucial to the achievement of the Nation’s developmental goals.

Kachukwu, who identified audit as an important element of governance, said the OAuGF has the onerous responsibility of ensuring that Fedral Government resources are well managed and utilized.

He explained that the Management of the Corporation intends to continue with its open door policy approach and will always be ready to engage and respond positively to issues raised by stakeholders in clearing areas of doubt in its operations.

Dr Kachukwu revealed that the Ministry has transmitted from being a supervisory body to a huge income driving Ministry with over $10 billion income earning capacity despite falling crude oil prices.

In his presentation the Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr Anthony Ayine said the OAuGF has a critical and constitutional mandate of ensuring that all revenue due to the Federation of Nigeria are received and fully accounted for and also to ensure that any revenue generating leakages are identified and reported on, with appropriate recommendations, hence the need for the Ministry of Petroleum Resource, NNPC Group and the OAuGF to have a good working relationship.

Speaking further, The Auditor-General pointed out the necessity for the authorized staff of the OAuGf to have access to subsidiary documents of Joint Ventures Operational and also carry out checks in the Liquefied Natural Gas Companies. He said this is necessary for the purpose of transparency, accountability and in the national interest.

Mr Ayine also noted that the Financial Regulations (FR) 3210(v) provides, that Audited Accounts of bodies established by the Acts of Parliament (parastatals) should be submitted to the OAuGF not later than 31st May, of the following year. He therefore appealed for compliance to the rules.

Lastly, the AuGF requested for assistance in the areas of capacity building for some of the officers of the OAuGF in some relevant technical areas of oil and gas sector.

In his response to the AuGF observations and requests, the Honourable Minister who noted that the visit is the first of any AuGF to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources on assumption of office promise to cooperate fully with the OAuGF.

He assured that when the Ministry is doing the audit of its joint ventures and companies, the OAuGF would be involved and included in the team. He also gave the assurance that the Ministry will ensure that representatives of OAuGF have easy access to all the documents they require to carry out their audit checks.

Dr Kachukwu gave the assurance of the willingness of the Ministry to assist with the training of some officers of the OAuGF, including engaging them in internship programmes.

The Minister revealed that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has observed some gaps and also identified some differences in the operations of its Agencies and the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, (NEITI).

Kachukwu said in the Ministry’s bid to bridge these gaps it is organizing an interactive meeting between its Agencies and NEITI.