According to the report, of the 36 states that was surveyed, Benue, Borno and Kano were ranked 34th, 35th and 36th, while Akwa Ibom, Yobe and Kastina were ranked first to third with 69 per cent, 63 per ent and 50 per cent respectively.
At the public presentation of the report, yesterday, in Abuja, Executive Director of PLSI, Olusegun Elemo, stated that the yearly assessment was to examine the level of transparency and accountability operational in the management and implementation of public funds and policies in the 36 states through public audit.
Findings in the SAE index 2022 report revealed that 21 states did not publish audit report for the year 2021, as only 11 published Citizens Accountability report online during the year, and that only two made progress towards implementing financial autonomy for the audit office.
The report also revealed that none of the states produced standard performance audit report on government’s programmes, projects and policies in 2021, adding that five have effective public accounts committee in their Houses of Assembly.
It also disclosed that only two states n sufficiently involved civic and media actors in their audit processes.
Elemo, however, recommended that governors exhibit strong political will to achieve financial autonomy for audit offices and urged Houses of Assembly and Auditors-General to work collaboratively to remedy inadequacies in the legal framework and effectively implement the audit laws.
Also urging the Houses of Assembly to implement the necessary legal framework mandating the Auditor-General to publish audit reports online, he noted that the $15 billion World Bank-assisted States Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme between 2018 and 2022 immensely encouraged fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability at subnational level.
