The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has expressed frustration with several federal agencies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL),
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigeria Police Force, and twelve other entities, for their failure to address queries raised in the 2019 audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
Sen. Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (SDP, Nasarawa West), Chairman of the committee, conveyed the committee’s dissatisfaction to reporters in Abuja on Tuesday.
He criticized the heads of these agencies for not responding to the audit queries despite multiple opportunities to do so.
Moving forward, the committee has announced that any agency that fails to attend scheduled appearances will have its queries upheld and reported to the Senate plenary.
Sen. Wadada emphasized that the non-compliance of these public agencies is counterproductive to the objectives of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
He highlighted that, in addition to NNPCL, FIRS, and the Police, other agencies neglecting their responsibilities include the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (formerly DPR), Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, FCT Internal Revenue Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited.
The Chairman stated, “The Committee began reviewing the Audit Report in October 2023 with the intention of presenting its findings to the Senate Plenary.
However, several agencies have deliberately failed to respond to invitations to address their audit queries, despite having submitted written responses.”
He noted that the committee’s rules require accounting officers to attend public hearings to answer questions about their submissions, which are essential for making informed decisions.
The committee has extended multiple invitations to these agencies, but many have chosen to ignore them.
Sen. Wadada concluded, “The Senate Public Accounts Committee will proceed with the consideration of the audit queries as outlined in the Auditor-General’s Annual Report.
Any MDA that fails to attend future invitations will have its audit queries considered as presented by the Auditor-General. This resolution will be incorporated into our rules of engagement.”
Despite these challenges, the Chairman affirmed the committee’s belief in the current administration’s commitment to improving Nigeria, stating that achieving these goals requires full cooperation from all involved.
