[ad_1]
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives on Tuesday kicked against the underfunding of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation which is constitutionally responsible for the monitoring of the income and expenditure of the MDAs.
The Committee chaired by Hon Busayo Oluwole Oke, accused the Minister of Finance, the Director General of the Budget Office and the Accountant General of the Federation of undermining President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to fight corruption in the country.
Oke decried the underfunding of the office when the acting Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF), Mr Andrew Ogochukwu Onwudili, appeared before it to defend the 2022 budget performance and 2023 budget proposal of the office.
The committee frowned at the meagre funds being made available to the office to carry out its enormous assignments over the years compared to other Agencies with lesser responsibilities
Consequently, the committee summoned the Minister of Finance, DG Budget Office and the Accountant-General of the Federation to appear within seven days to explain why agencies created by Acts of the parliament were getting more funding than the constitutional body.
Hon Oke wondered why ancillary institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) were being funded with billions of naira while the office of the Auditor General, which was constitutional, was being inadequately funded.
According to him, “It is very important at this point in time to state clearly our observations. We want to observe that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari was elected based on his promise and determination to tame corruption, to humble corruption in our country. And one of the institutions – as a matter of fact the fundamental institution that the crafters of our Constitution put in place under Section 89 is the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation.
“By Acts of the Parliament, we have created ancillary institutions like the ICPC and the EFCC to work with the products and findings of the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation after due consideration by the parliament. It is very unfortunate that we have noticed a concerted effort and determined to undermine the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation; to eradicate, to repeal, illegally, the supreme audit institution of this country.
“We have seen the determination of the lieutenants of Mr President particularly the Minister of Finance and the DG Budget Office to undermine Mr President in his determination to wage war against corruption in the land.
“Otherwise, why will you allocate several billions to ancillary institutions and you are giving N62m to the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation to fund capital (projects) – a constitutional office? They have to go cap-in-hand to beg for workers; they are understaffed and undermined; they cannot conduct performance audits.
“As we speak, this office is yet to lay its reports for 2020 and 2021 financial years and we are saying that we are determined to wage war against corruption. We cannot see how you intend to achieve your (OAuGF) objectives, based on which the budget is formulated. Speaking to law, facts and issues, the Procurement Act of 2007 – Sections 18, 20 and 21 taken together – is the bedrock of budget formulation.
“By Section 18, an agency of the government is expected to conduct needs assessment, market survey, arrive at its needs and ensure that they are embedded in the annual budget. If the Auditor-General of the Federal has conducted this assessment in the areas of personnel and working tools, and it has offices in all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, and they have come to the conclusion about what they need and submit same to the Budget Office, and the Budget Office violates that same principle of the Procurement Act and now reduced the capital requirement of this agency to N62m – reduced their Overhead by N3bn – but gave (other) agencies of the government that are doing virtually nothing billions of naira, there is no other way to tell Mr President that his lieutenants are working against him.
“Or are they telling Nigerians that even the Executive led by Mr President is determined to undermine this supreme audit institution? Otherwise, Mr President would have assented to the Audit Bill presented to him and this could have given the auditor-general’s office its rightful place in our country.
“We reject this budget. This budget cannot work. The Auditor-General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance; the two of them are, hereby, summoned to appear before this committee to come and tell Nigerians…the Minister of Finance, the DG Budget, the Accountant-General of the Federation – the three of them should cause appearance before this committee, to come and tell Nigerians why they are undermining the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation; why the office has not been staffed and why they have not been given the tools required to work and to wage war against corruption in the land.
“They have to tell Nigerians why the EFCC and the ICPC are being funded more than the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation. We won’t accept this. It can’t be business as usual. We are here to support Mr President in his bid to humble corruption – to wage war against corruption in the land – and we owe him a duty of care to expose any of his lieutenants working against him
“This is our position. Auditor-General, you have to reappear with them when the Minister of Finance, DG Budget Office and the Accountant-General are coming here. They have to tell Nigerians why they are funding agencies created by Acts of the parliament above the constitutional body. They are given seven days to appear.”
[ad_2]
