Reps decry late submission of financial statements to auditor general

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives has expressed dismay over the failure of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) to submit the 2022 consolidated financial statement of the federal government to the Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF), describing it as unacceptable.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, who gave the position of the committee during an interactive session with the AGF in Abuja, also expressed concern over the poor implementation of the capital component of the 2024 budget, which is put at 25 percent.

He said it is unfortunate that Nigeria is still lagging in the submission and consideration of audit reports, attributing it to the non-submission of financial statements by the office of the Accountant General (OAGF) as required by the law.

According to a statement issued by the media unit of the committee, the lawmakers also urged the Accountant General, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, and Interior to immediately resolve all outstanding issues on the non-automation of revenue collections from foreign missions to ensure transparency and accountability in the process.

The chairman of the committee promised that the 2021 Auditor General’s report, recently submitted to the National Assembly, will receive accelerated consideration immediately after the passage of the 2025 Appropriation Bill currently before the National Assembly.

Earlier in her speech, the Accountant General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, attributed the delay in the submission of the consolidated financial statement to a lack of sufficient data on government revenue from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

While assuring that efforts are at an advanced stage to get the CBN to submit the necessary information, the Accountant General gave the undertaking to conclude the exercise within two months.

Madein also informed the Salam-led committee of several initiatives to strengthen existing regulations and initiate new ones to promote greater accountability in public expenditure management.

She assured that the Financial Regulations 2009 have been reviewed and are only awaiting the approval of the Federal Executive Council to become operational.