Nigeria’s House of Representatives has mandated the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mr. Nyesom Wike to urgently appoint a substantive Auditor-General for the Area Councils in line with the provision of the law.
This was sequel to a resolution passed at the resumed hearing of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), during which the committee observed that the vacuum stalled the signing and transmission of reports of audited accounts to it as enshrined in the constitution.
While taking a presentation from the Acting Auditor General for the Area Councils, Mr. Abdullahi Ibn Salihu, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Bamidele Salam observed that the issue needed their intervention prompting a motion to be moved to that effect.
“I think we should also step into this. Like I said, when we resumed in October 2023, the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation in Nigeria was vacant for about 2 years. The former President, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to make an appointment. And so, audit reports were not submitted. So, when we came in, myself and the Senate counterpart decided to write letters to the President and make some advocacy upon which a substantive 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 actually have a resolution on this also”, Mr. Salam stated.
The motion was therefore moved by Mr. Obordor Mitema and seconded by Honourable Usman Bala after which the members unanimously subscribed to.
Earlier, while fielding questions from the committee on area councils financial report, Mr. Abdullahi explained that most of the infractions noted were committed in the earlier administrations since he is barely 6-months in the office in an acting capacity.
Issues that were identified as infractions include non-submission of audited financial reports from 2023-2024; non-remittance of pension deductions to the Pension Commission (PENCOM) and non-submission of the available audited reports to the committee.
Mr. Billy Osawaru 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 things must not be allowed to continue.
5-member Sub-committee
Meanwhile, a 5-member sub-committee chaired by Mr. Tochukwu Okere was put in place to thoroughly investigate the matters and make recommendations.
Other members of the sub-committee include: Hon. Ajiya Abdulrahman; Hon. Mandara Usman; Hon. Mauruff Adebayo and Hon. Mohammed Bargaja.
The FCT Area Council Chairmen in attendance were those of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu and that of Bwari, Hon. John Gabaya while Kuje and Kwali were represented by their vice chairmen.
Confidence Okwuchi
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