The Speaker of the House of Representatives has called on President Bola Tinubu to appoint a substantive Auditor General of the Federation.
At the formal unveiling and leadership training for the Public Accounts Committee, Tajudeen Abbas disowned the Committee’s request for a bus from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation for its oversight.
Section 85 sub section 5 of the 1999 Constitution as amended created the Public Accounts Committee of the two chambers of the National Assembly.
PAC as it is commonly called, is established by the standing orders of both houses to examine federal government accounts through the office of the Auditor General of the Federation.
This gathering is the formal unveiling of the Public Accounts Committee of the 10th House of Representatives and a leadership training.
The Committee speaks on its roadmap for the next four years and seeks the support of all partners.
For the Civil society and media coalition working with the parliament, the timeliness of the report of the Auditor General and the insignificant number of the 900 MDAs covered gives cause for concern.
The Coalition says only 23% of 900 MDAs was covered by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation in 2013.
And in 2014- 17%, 2015- 19%, 2016-13% and in 2017- 12%
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, represented by his Deputy, underscores the role of the Committee in taming corruption.
While so much is expected of the Auditor General, the Speaker complains that the paltry budget to the office needs to be reviewed for effective output.
He also makes a case for the appointment of a substantive Auditor General of the Federation to demonstrate commitment to fighting corruption.
