From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives Public Account Committee (PAC) said it has uncovered over N250 billion public expenditure unaccounted for, in the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation’s report for the 2020/2021 fiscal year.
The chairman, Bamidele Salam, at a pre-conference press briefing for the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance (NCPAFG), said this is in addition to high incidents of unauthorised virements within the same period.
he noted that the trend, if not checked, would continue to erode public confidence in government, undermine sustainable national development and weaken democratic institutions.
He explained that the conference was convened as a key component of the legislative agenda of the 10th House to strengthen good governance and ensure sustainable development.
According to him, “As a crucial stakeholder charged with the constitutional mandate to oversee public financial management activities and review reports of audit and accounting institutions, we note that Nigeria stands today at a critical juncture in its journey toward fiscal governance reforms.
“While some progress had been made over the years, particularly the notable reforms under the current administration, entrenched systemic challenges remain. These challenges include limited full-cycle audit implementation, high-level institutional financial leakages, a skewed and opaque public financial reporting system and widespread non-enforcement of financial protocols across MDAs at all levels of government.
“Available records from 2020/2021 Auditor General’s reports revealed that over a quarter-trillion Naira in public expenditures remain unaccounted for, with high incidents of unauthorised virements, growing number of audit queries each fiscal year and the reported cases of more than 60 percent of MDAs persistently failing to comply with financial regulations.”
The lawmaker added that, “these trends, if left unchecked, will continue to erode public trust, undermine sustainable national development and weaken our democratic institutions. Therefore, if Nigeria is to reap optimally the full benefits of the ongoing fiscal governance reforms initiated by the Tinubu-led administration, then we must seize the opportunity of this conference as a platform for high-level national policy dialogue for galvanisation of stakeholders’ commitment.
“We strongly believe as important stakeholders, that it is imperative for us to leverage the opportunity of this unique conference to deepen collaboration among Public Accounts Committees, especially at the sub-national levels, audit institutions, regulatory bodies and anti-corruption agencies.”
Salam further stated that the expectations were that at the end of the conference, there would be “a significant reduction in unaccounted expenditures from over N300 billion to less than N1billion in the next fiscal year 2026.
“A drop in the number of audit queries and rate of non-compliance with financial regulations from over 60 percent to less than double digit at nine percent through rigorous capacity building development, among others.”