Reps task Tinubu on appointment of Auditor General

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

House of Representatives has charged President Bola Tinubu to expedite action on the appointment of a substantive Auditor General of the Federation.

The speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, stated this, while speaking at the formal unveiling of the Public Accounts Committee ( PAC) of the House, for the 10th Assembly, on Monday, in Abuja.

Abbas, who was represented by the deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu, said it is unacceptable for the Office the Auditor General is being overseen by an acting Director.

The speaker decried the present budgetary allocation to the Office of Auditor General, stating that the parliament is committed to reviewing the budget. Also, he called on the Executive arm of government to address the human resources need of the office.

According to him, “we are committed, as a people with the power purse to review the budget of the Auditor General’s office. Unless we don’t want the nine hundred MDAs to be well audited. The issue has been lack of adequate resources.

“How do you explain that the Auditor general’s office having a one thousand three hundred Grade level 8 staff in the whole nation? It’s not sufficient. They came down from two thousand employees to one thousand three hundred. If they must get the job done, at least let’s push them back to two thousand employees so that all these MDAs would be well covered.

“There is no magic around this. If we want them to do the job, we should not make them magicians. We should equip them sufficiently to pursue the money of Nigeria, so that the work of the National Assembly will be easy”.

Furthermore, Abbas urged the PAC to depend its engagement with the executive arm of government to ensure that Ministries, Departments and Agencies uphold the principles of accountability, principles of transparency and prudence in the management of public fund.

Similarly, the PAC chairman, Bamidele Salam, also called for the appointment of a substantive Auditor General of the Federation, saying that the director acting in that capacity has overstayed.