James Emejo in Abuja
Audit professionals have called on President Bola Tinubu to expeditiously sign the new Federal Audit Service Bill, which the National Assembly passed and transmitted to former President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.
However, Buhari did not sign the bill into law to replace the 1956 Audit Act, which is still in operation.
Experts have argued that a new audit regulation was critical to holding the government accountable and upholding transparency.
Also, former a president, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mr. Ismaila Muhammadu Zakari, has joined other experts in urging the president to ensure speedy assent to the bill that the National Assembly passed in March 2023.
Speaking at the third Audit Reporting Training organised by FrontFoot Media Initiative, the audit professionals lamented that the federal government has had no audited account since 2019 with no explanation.
They also pointed to the failure of many local governments to submit audit reports as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution.
Other audit experts at the workshop included ICAN Fellow and partner at HLB Z.O. Ososanya, Mr. Babatunde Kolawole and ICAN Fellow and Head of Internal Audit at Premium Pension Limited, Abuja, Mr. Yusuf Doma, as well as an accountant and educationist, Mrs. Umeshie Bernadine Anikwe.
Some of the auditing issues highlighted by experts included the fact that the federal government has had no audited account since 2019 with no explanation and the failure of many local governments to submit audit reports stipulated in the 1999 Constitution.
Zakari added that local government audits are non-compliant with the ICAN Accountancy Index 2017.
He proposed future constitutional amendments and a resolution that governors and the president should take responsibility for presenting the respective audit reports to the legislature.
This, he said, would compel compliance with the deadlines for submission of the audit reports outlined in the constitution.
Participants at the training also agreed that effective public sector auditing would enhance democracy in Nigeria by checking excesses and engendering citizen trust and confidence.
FrontFoot Media Initiative said the audit reporting training remained its flagship capacity development programme to promote democracy by equipping the media with skills and the ability to report on the mandatory state and federal audit reports.
