By Chimezie Godfrey
The Say-No-Campaign , a coalition of anti-corruption groups, has demanded that the names of defaulting agencies and their Chief Executive Officers, indicated in the 2017 audit report, be published and investigated.
The group made the demand during a press briefing on Monday in Abuja, saying that the 2017 annual audit report of MDAs in Nigeria, had indicted a number of agencies and their Chief executive officers, whose names it wants to be published and investigated.
The Executive Director, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa, Jaye Gaskiya pointed out that the legislature is expected to consider and interrogate the annual audit report, led by its Public Accounts Committee, which they have failed to do.
According to him,”The audit reports are lagging, they get to the legislature late, and the legislature oftentimes does not treat the reports with the seriousness and urgency that such an important matters deserves.
“Yes if we are to curb wastages in public finance, if we are to enthrone transparency and accountability, and if we are to fight corruption effectively, the way we organize and treat the audit process must change and be radically transformed.”
It could be recalled that Newsdiaryonline recently published the stunning 2017 Audit report based on the Executive Summary which said, among other facts that 11 MDAs have never submitted their report to the Office of Auditor General of the Federation.
Eze Nwangwu, Convener of Say No Campaign, decried the fact that 160 parastatals in Nigeria, failed to submit their financial statement to the office of the Audit General of the Federation, in flagrant disregard to constitutional provisions.
He disclosed that about 11 parastatals were reported to have never submitted their financial statements to the office of the AGF since their inception, but continued to enjoy resources appropriated by the National Assembly, NASS, and the office of Budget and National Planning, for subsequent years.
“We find this highly irresponsible and unacceptable. It directly indicts not just the defaulting parastatals, but also the National Assembly and the office of Budget and National Planning as complicit in the fraud,” he said.
Also speaking, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, the Executive Director, CISLAC, noted that ordinary Nigerians were daily making huge sacrifices to fund and support the government, but the cost of governance continued to rise in the country because of greed of its leaders.
He said that considering the gaps in the operationalization of the processes of the 2017 audit report, the group demands for the naming and investigation of the culprits.
“We by this statement are demanding that the names of defaulting and their Chief executive officers be published and full investigation to commence by antigraft agencies.
“We call on the anti-corruption agencies to be proactive in responding adequately to these damning allegations and take the necessary actions to hold these officials and their agencies responsible.
“We demand that the erring CEOs should be sanctioned, and made to submit all outstanding financial reports which should be thoroughly scrutinized by the office of the auditor general.
“That the National Assembly, the office of budget and national planning and the Minister of finance commit to thoroughly scrutinize the audited reports and consider the recommendations to withhold further allocation to these defaulting MDAs until they have satisfied all sanctions.
“We also call for the passage of the pending Audit bill to address the concerns raised by the Auditor General, and to conduct review of our laws that have failed to clearly specify sanctions on violators, thereby hampering the nation’s anti-corruption efforts,” he said.
The group is made up of the conveners of the Say No Campaign, CISLAC, PAACA, and YIAGA.
Others are Centre for Transparency Advocacy, AFRICMIL, Yes Project, Social Action, and Protest 2 Power.
