To enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public funds, a civic organisation, Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), has called on the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) to immediately release audit reports on the accounts of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for the fiscal years 2020 to 2023.
This follows over four months of silence after an official Freedom of Information request was submitted on February 11, 2025, requesting access to the reports, in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011.
The Executive Director of PLSI, Mr Segun Elemo, during a press briefing in Abuja, said, “We had since February 2025, four months ago, written to the Auditor-General for the Federation, whose responsibility it is to audit accounts of the FCT.”
“Despite the clear legal provisions of the FOI Act and Nigeria’s commitment to openness and transparency, the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation has not responded to the request or provided access to the requested audit reports,” he stressed.
Elemo raised concern over the culture of opacity around public finance management, particularly at a time when public trust in government institutions is at an all-time low.
He said, “It is even more concerning given recent developments in which the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, defended spending N39billion of public funds on the renovation of the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, a project that has attracted wide criticism due to its cost and lack of contracting information.”
Elemo said they do not have issues with the current FCT administration, as their request is the audit report between 2021 and 2023, saying they aim to ensure the judicious spending of public funds
He also criticised the National Assembly for abandoning the Federal Audit Service Bill, which aims to reform public revenue accounts, stating that previous governments had refused to sign the Bill into law. Furthermore, the current Senate has also failed to give concurrence to it, despite its passage by the House of Representatives since October 2023.
Elemo said, “It is interesting to know that the same National Assembly has hurriedly concluded legislative activities on the tax reform bills and transmitted them to the President for assent. Conversely, it is absolutely frustrating that public officials can be spending so much money and looking to tax the people even more, with no responsibility to account for the money.”
He bemoaned that the use of the obsolete Audit Ordinance Act of 1956 to account for public funds in 2025 is dangerous to democracy and unacceptable.
The ES reiterated that the audit functions are not an afterthought, and audit reports are not confidential memos for public officials only, but public interest documents essential for evaluating how well the promises embedded in budgets have translated into actual delivery and impact.
PLSI urged citizens, civil society organisations, the media, and development partners to join the call for greater transparency in the audit process at national and subnational levels, saying that to prevent corruption and improve delivery of services to citizens, audits must matter to everyone.
