Senate gives AG 2-week ultimatum to present audit reports of State House, EFCC, FIRS, others

– The Senate has given the Audito General of the Federation two weeks to present audited reports on some ministries, agencies and parastatals

– The Senate said the refusal by government Ministries, Agencies and parastatals to forward their audited reports is against the constitution

The Senate on Monday, December 3, gave a two-week ultimatum to the office of the Auditor General for the Federation to get the audited reports of the State House, the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

Vanguard reports that the Senate, said the refusal by government Ministries, Agencies and parastatals to forward their audited reports has contravened Section 85 of the 1999 constitution, even as it reiterated that some of these agencies, since they were established, have never had their accounts audited, adding that some of the backlogs range from fifteen to twenty years.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, PDP, Edo south, announced the Senate’s decision, when he led members of his Committee on Public Accounts, PAC, on an oversight visit to the Auditor-General for the Federation, Anthony Ayine.

Urhoghide said other agencies of government like the Army, the Police, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Navy, the Airforce, among others should submit their audited reports to the office of the Auditor- General.

He said the Senate has also mandated the Auditor-General to carry out a holistic auditing of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the last five years.

TRACKNEWS.NG earlier reported that the Senate committee on works commenced investigation into the N23 billion failed Ibadan-Ilorin road project.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, made this known in an interview with the press in Abuja on Monday, December 3.