The House of Representatives on Wednesday, urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to urgently appoint a substantive Auditor-General for the Area Councils as provided for in law.
The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion at the resumed hearing of the Public Accounts Committee where the panel observed that the vacuum occasioned by the lack of a substantive Auditor-General has stalled the signing and transmission of reports of audited accounts to it as enshrined in the constitution.
Taking a presentation from the Acting Auditor-General for the Area Councils, Abdullahi Salihu, the Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, said the committee’s intervention is needed to address the situation.
“Honourable colleagues, I think we should step into this. As I said, when we resumed in October 2023, the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation in Nigeria was vacant for about two years. The former President, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to make an appointment. And so, audit reports were not submitted. So, when we came in, my Senate counterpart decided to write letters to the President and make some advocacy upon which a substantive one was appointed.
“If they have the same case, I think we will also need to step in so that we can call on the Minister. We may need to write to him and invite him. Maybe he has reasons why that appointment has not been made. I think we should. We should have a resolution on this also”, Salam stated.
The motion was moved by Obordor Mitema (PDP, Bayelsa) and seconded by Usman Bala.
Earlier in his remarks, Abdullahi explained that most of the infractions noted were committed in the earlier administrations, as he’s only been in the office for six months in an acting capacity.
Breaches identified include non-submission of audited financial reports from 2023-2024; non-remittance of pension deductions to the Pension Commission and non-submission of the available audited reports to the committee.
Billy Osawaru (APC, Edo) in his contribution urged the committee to deploy the full weight of the law on the office of the Auditor General for all the infractions they have committed insisting that such behaviours must be addressed.
Meanwhile, a five-member sub-committee chaired by Tochukwu Okere was constituted to thoroughly investigate the matter and make recommendations. Other members of the sub-committee include Ajiya Abdulrahman, Mandara Usman, Mauruff Adebayo and Mohammed Bargaja.
In attendance were Abuja Municipal Area Council Chairman, Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, and his Bwari counterpart, John Gabaya while Kuje and Kwali Area Council Chairs were represented by their respective vice chairmen.
