The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review has considered the alteration of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to provide for the public disclosure of reports of the Auditor-General for the Federation, and the Auditor-General for the states through publication in the mass media.
When passed into law, the bill will address the time frame for the submission of audited reports of ministries, departments and Agencies by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation and their respective counterparts at the sub-national level.
Sponsored by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency, Bauchi State, Mansur Soro, the proposed legislation will reduce the workload of the House Public Accounts Committee, which is still battling with the 2021 audited reports on MDAs.
Section 85 of the Principal Act is altered in sub-section (6) to read, “Notwithstanding the provision of this constitution or any other law to the contrary, the Auditor-General of the Federation shall within 90 days of receipt of the Accountant-General’s financial statement, publicise his findings and submit reports to each House of the Assembly which shall then cause the reports to be considered by a committee of that House responsible for public accounts and proffer recommendations.”
Similarly, Section 125 (5) of the Constitution is proposed for amendment to read thus, “Notwithstanding the provision of this constitution or any other law to the contrary, the Auditor-General for a State shall, within 90 days of receipts of the Accountant-General financial statement and annual accounts of the state, publicise his fundings and submit his reports to the House of Assembly of the State and the House shall cause the reports to be considered by a committee of the House responsible for public accounts and proffer recommendation.”
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH, Soro stated, “The bill when passed, will address not only the disclosure to citizens on how their monies are spent but will also make the constitutionally-created public account committees at the states and federal legislatures to work effectively.
“Unlike the current situation, the bill is coming to specify the period within which audit reports must be submitted. We shouldn’t be talking about effective auditing when audit reports of 2021 are being considered by the Public Accounts Committees in 2025.
“This is not good for a country desirous of championing transparency in public administration.”
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