As we all may be aware, it is the primary responsibility of Government to provide the citizens with certain basic needs of life, including but not limited to provision of social amenities such as Roads, Schools, hospitals, Water, and ultimately,security of lives and properties.
2. Government at all levels incur huge expenditure using public funds at their disposal in order to meet her constitutional obligations to the citizenry. Public Funds therefore constitute a trust held and managed by some individuals or a group of persons on behalf of the public.
3. The need for check and balances, probity and accountability by Public Officers was envisaged by the Constitution and as such Section 125 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended confers authority to carry out audit of all public Offices, specifically of the State, on the Office of the State Auditor General.Section 125 Sub Section 2 provides as follows:
“the public accounts of the State and of all offices and courts of the State shall be audited by the Auditor-General of the State who shall submit his reports to the House of Assembly of the State concerned, and for that purpose the Auditor-General or any person authorized by him in that behalf shall have access to all the books, records, returns and other documents relating to those accounts”.
4. Section 125 Sub Section 5 of the Constitution explicitly states thus “The Auditor-General for a State shall, within ninety days of receipt of the Accountant-General's financial statement and annual accounts of the State, submit his report to the House of Assembly of the State and the House shall cause the report to be considered by a committee of the House responsible for public accounts”
5. Unfortunately it has been increasingly difficult for the Office of the Auditor General across the country to deliver on the mandate imposed on it by the Constitution for obvious reasons as highlighted below
• Lack of operational independence
• Insufficient and untimely funding, and
• Inadequate legislation to bridge the gaps in the constitutional provision and current realities.
6. In the recent past therefore, the Federal Government and many States in Nigeria have taken steps to address some of the challenges by enacting legislation that empowers and reposition the Office of the Auditor General to be able to perform her constitutional duties more effectively and to provide the House of Assembly the most needed information for purpose of their oversight functions in an efficient and timely manner.
7. The Kogi State Public Audit Lawas being proposed seeks to strengthen and improve the effectiveness and operational efficiencies as well as give effect to certain level of independence desirous of the Office of State Auditor General. Key features and highlight of the provisions of this bill are as follows:
• Qualifications for appointment into the Office of the State Auditor General
• Structure of the Office of the State Auditor General
• Guidelines, Approachand Audit Techniques
• Strict timelinefor rendition to the House of Assembly by both the Accountant General and the State Auditor General.
• Sanctions on public officials found wanting with regard to hording information and Financial misconduct
• Alternative sources of funding for the Office of the State Auditor General
8. It will be of special interest to this honourable house and most especially the Public Accounts Committee, the provision of Section 16 sub section 2 and 3) which provide as follows:
“The State Accountant General shall submit the financial statements of the State Government to the Auditor General not later than the first quarter of the following year.
And
“The Auditor General shall within ninety days from the receipt of the financial statements submit his report and the audited financial statements to the State House of Assembly for legislative actions”
9. From the above provision, the law if passed, helps the Office of the Auditor General, as it set definite deadline to receive report from Accountant General, and for Auditor General to transmitreport to the State House of Assembly. Hence all issues and observed anomalies would have been attended to within a short time followingthe fiscal year under review.
10. It is instructive at this juncture to note that one of the major challenges militating against Government’s ability at all level to deliver dividend of democracy to the citizenry is that of corruption, and lack of prudence in the management of available resources. The current Administration of President MuhammaduBuhari is fighting tooth and nail and winning the war against this scourge.
11. In a similar manner, the New Direction Administration of AlhajiYahaya Bello in Kogi State has sponsored the executive bill for this Audit Law.It is consistent with President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda of entrenching prudence and good governance in the management of Public Resources in Nigeria.
12. In other words, the proposal is an effort and by no means perfect, I therefore wish on behalf of His Excellency, AlhajiYahaya Bello, the Executive Governor of the State, call on the Honorable Members, all Professional Bodies and invited guests here present to provide robust input that will make the final output the best of its kind in the entire country and a reference point for others to follow.
13. I wish to sincerely appreciate the Rt. Honorable Speaker, Prince Mathew Kolawole, the entire Honorable Members of Kogi State House of Assembly, and the House Joint Committee on Public Accounts, Law and Justice, for the speed at which the bill is being treated which is unprecedented and a testimony to your commitment to the rule of law, good governance, probity, transparency and accountability, and ultimately, your desire towards making the good people of Kogi State live the best of life in the nearest future.
14. Finally, ensuring this bill is passed and signed into Law before the expiration of the current 8th Assembly in Kogi State will be an immeasurable achievement, and members as well as His Excellency AlhajiYahaya Bello and all of us gathered here today would have succeeded in writing our names on the sand of time.
Thank you and God bless you all
Alhaji Y. Y. OkalaFCA, MBA
Kogi State Auditor-General.
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