By Andrew Oota
The Senate committee on Public Accounts headed by Senator Ahmed Wadada will undertake one of its major functions since inauguration of the 10th Senate .
This major function will be the screening and confirmation of a substantive Auditor General for the Federation.
The Wadada panel,after screening will present it’s report to the Senate in session, the upper in a committee of the whole will take votes to either confirm or withhold confirmation.
The public Account committees of Senate ,House of Representatives and State assemblies is the only constitutionally approved committee of for parliaments in Nigeria and preservative of the opposition parties as chairman.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed a substantive Auditor General for the Federation ,Mr Shaakaa Chira to succeed Aghughu Arhotomhenla who was confirmed in 2021.
Coming under section 86 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria as amended , President Tinubu endorsed the recommendation of the Federal Civil Service Commission that placed Mr Chira ahead of other candidates during vigorous examination and screening exercise.
The process for the appointment of an Auditor General for the federation in the case of Mr Chira ticks all the boxes and bearing any unforseen hurdles ,his screening will center most on his capacity to deliver on the job and ensure accountability and transparency in the financial transactions of some Federal Government owned institutions .
It is important to note that ,the Auditor General for the federation is empowered to undertake audits of all income and expenditure of the Federal Government of Nigeria except government statutory corporations,commissions ,authorities ,agencies ,including all persons and bodies established by an Act of the National Assembly .
While there are certain restrictions on the institutions that Auditor General for the Federation can audit , one other expectation will be for the incoming Auditor General to seek interpretation or amendment that clearly spells and properly contextualizes “periodic checks ” which is applied in areas the constitution prohibits the AGF from delving into there books.
Giving the pedigree and experience of the incoming AGF Mr Chira ,he already has his job well cut out for him when confirmed .
Announcing his appointment through his Spokesman Ajuri Ngilari, the President charged the new AGF to justify the confidence reposed in him and live up to the high expectations that Nigerians have concerning the execution of his Renewed Hope Agenda as the most qualified candidate who scored the highest in the examination amongst all qualified candidate for the job.
Suffice to say that the incoming AGF will have surely needs to roll his sleeves to check sleaze and malfeasance by ensuring strict adherence to specific financial regulations.
The biggest challenge before the AGF will be that of having to raise a team of patriotics and trustworthy staff across the institutions within his audit-limit.
Wedding the system of corrupt tendencies are some of the key attributes the incoming AGF is known for ,according to sources at the Audit House .
The responsibilities of the office are equivalent of the job of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and requires a complete understanding and deep knowledge of the office as well as the expectations of the people ,giving that Nigeria have had notoriety for cutting corners and fragrant abuse of laid down procedures in there financial dealings . Our sources reveal however, that as former Director Audit, the incoming AGF will easily hit the ground running on assumption of office.
As an autonomous agency, the office holder must develop a culture of staying above board in all his official dealings .
And for the new Auditor General of the Federation to break new grounds and achieve all he’s set out to achieve there will be the need for him to take a second look at the system where some if the Auditors are resident in organisations they are supposed to audit, allowing this situation could lead to certain compromises and defeat the purpose for which they were assigned in the first instance .
As an institution that has a singular constitutional responsibility of auditing , the new headship must work towards a conducive working conditions for his staff and also turn the heat on erring staff who set out to sabotage and create room for corruption .
The Public Accounts committee of both chambers of the National Assembly have had a reputation for details so far, however the challenge have always been the inability of the Auditor General’s office to report the big revenue generating institutions who hesitates in responding to queries .
It was however learnt that the new AGF has been an advocate of integrity,” this is a man I know quite alot and I can tell you he is upright,committed and workaholic who takes his duties seriously .
Our source from the Auditor General’s further said,” he is unassuming but brilliant , you undermine him at your peril and I think aside meriting this position from the examination and screening , I can tell you that he has the charisma and a listening leader who leads from the front and that is significant because you can’t be preaching what you fall short of, that will amount to double standing . This man will blaze the trail and I urge Nigerians to watch out”.
