CSOs to Tinubu: Appoint auditor-general — absence of one is constitutional breach

An organisation known as the Civil Society Coalition on Audit in Nigeria has asked President Bola Tinubu to appoint a substantive auditor-general of the federation (AGF).

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Olusegun Elemo, executive director at Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI) who spoke on behalf of the coalition, decried the absence of an auditor-general for almost a year.

Adolphus Aghughu, immediate past auditor-general, retired in September 2022.

“What is currently happening at the office of the auditor-general for the federation is a clear breach of constitutional provisions,” Elemo said.

“Section 86(3) of the constitution is explicit on how the senate should authorize an individual to act in the office of the auditor-general, for not more than six months.

“Unfortunately, the public official leading the office at the moment is not doing so in an acting capacity but as director overseeing — a designation not recognized by the Nigerian constitution.”

Also speaking, Gabriel Okeowo, country director at BudgIT Foundation, expressed dismay at the failure of the national assembly to transmit the federal audit service bill to the president for assent.

Okeowo blamed politics for why the bill was not transmitted to the president.

“Political interests overrode the nation’s quest for a more potent and effective supreme audit institution,” he said.

“The office of the auditor-general for the federation is not one to be politicised and the more time it takes us to get an adequate legal framework for the audit office, the longer our hope for a renewed Nigeria is deferred.”