Senate Concludes Amendment to 69-Year-Old Audit Act

•Concurs to Institute of Economists of Nigeria Bill

Sunday Aborisade

Senate, Wednesday, concluded amendment to Audit Ordinance of 1956, which if eventually assented to, would herald an entirely new audit regime christened Federal Audit Service Bill, 2025.

The concurrence bill was presented on Wednesday by Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, at the plenary for consideration with a view to strength-ening the country’s public accounts management.

The bill, originally introduced in the House of Repre-sentatives as the Federal Audit Service Bill, 2025, was designed to repeal the extant Audit Ordinance of 1956, an archaic legislation enacted by the British colonial administration 69 years ago.

When eventually assented to by President Bola Tinubu, Bamidele stated that the bill would culminate in the establishment of Federal Audit Service and Fed-eral Audit Board, as well as strengthen the powers, in-dependence, and functions of the Auditor-General for the Federation.

Bamidele explained that the bill sought to replace the outdated framework with a modern, robust, and fit-for-purpose legal regime, which aligned Nigeria’s pub-lic audit system with international best practices.

He said, “The need to repeal the Audit Ordinance Act of 1958 cannot be over-emphasised. That Ordinance is a pre-independence legislation enacted for a colonial administrative structure and is grossly inadequate for Nigeria’s present constitutional democracy, complex public finance architecture, and modern accountabil-ity standards.

“It does not sufficiently guarantee institutional inde-pendence, operational autonomy, or the enforcement powers required of a supreme audit institution in a contemporary governance system.

“This bill therefore seeks to replace that outdated framework with a modern, robust, and fit-for-purpose legal regime that aligns Nigeria’s public audit system with international best practices, including the princi-ples of transparency, accountability, and fiscal respon-sibility.

“It will enhance legislative oversight, strengthen anti-corruption efforts, and improve public confidence in the management of public funds.”

At the plenary on Wednesday, also, the senate con-cluded the process of establishing the Institute of Economists of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2025 de-signed to deepen edge-cutting research in Economics and promote professionalism in the field.

Bamidele said the bill sought to establish the Institute of Economists of Nigeria, charged with the responsibil-ity of determining, regulating, and maintaining stand-ards of knowledge, skill, and professional qualification for persons aspiring to practice as economists in Nige-ria.

He stated, “The proposed Institute is intended to pro-mote professionalism, ethical conduct, and capacity development within the economics profession, in line with global best practices.

“The two bills – Federal Audit Service Bill, 2025 and In-stitute of Economists of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2025 – are straightforward in nature and have under-gone the requisite legislative scrutiny and due process in the House of Representatives.

“They are designed to strengthen public financial ac-countability and professional regulation, both of which are critical to sound governance and economic development.”