- The resulting widespread corruption was depriving the government of much-needed revenue to function
According to the House of Representatives, inherent weaknesses in the country’s auditing and accounting systems are the primary cause of corruption.
Rep. Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC), made this statement during the budget defence session with the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation (OAuGF).
He claimed that the resulting widespread corruption was depriving the government of much-needed revenue to function and deliver the necessary development in the country.
He stated, “Even though the Auditor General has limitations because of budgetary constraints, because of personnel constraints, the office is mandated to audit nearly 1,000 ministries, departments, and agencies of government, do periodic audits, appoint auditors for those that are not going to audit directly.
“And all this will require a lot of resources and manpower. We saw these gaps again in the presentation made today, and we are going to work as a parliament in cooperation with our sister committees that directly oversight some of these agencies in a manner that will make the work of the Auditor General to be more impactful, to be more result-oriented.
“We believe very strongly that if the Auditor General’s office is well-funded, if the Auditor General’s office is well-staffed, cases of corruption will be minimised drastically in Nigeria.
We will be preventing corruption rather than fighting corruption after it happens. And that is the direction that we are looking into”.
Rep. Salam also decried the poor implementation of the capital component of the 2024, which he said has a negative effect on the overall governance system as well as development projections in the country.
The PAC chairman also challenged the Auditor General to be up and doing in the submission of Annual reports which he said is crucial to the workings of the National Assembly to keep the executive arm in check and ensure accountability.
In his presentation, the Auditor General for the Federation, Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira identified various challenges hindering the operations of the office.
He said the office was grossly underfunded and understaffed to discharge its enormous responsibilities resulting in late compilation and submission of the annual reports.
Chira however informed that with adequate funding and increased staff, the office will overcome the challenges.
He promised that the office is on track to address the backlog of the reports for submission.