•harrps on full implementation of 2024 capital projects
The House of Representatives on Wednesday charged the Accountant General of the Federation, Dr Shakirat Madein on the need to submit the 2022 Consolidated financial statement of the Federal Government to the Auditor General of the Federation in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Rep. Bamidele Salam gave the charge during an interactive session with the Accountant General, who expressed grave concern at the low implementation of the capital component of the 2024 budget, which the Accountant General put at 25 per cent.
Speaking during the meeting, the lawmakers lamented that the poor implementation of the capital component of the 2024 Appropriation Act was not helping the attainment of desired economic growth.
Rep. Salam said it was regrettable that from recent studies conducted in Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda, Nigeria is still lagging in the submission and consideration of audit reports largely due to the non-submission of Financial statements by the Accountant Generals office as required by law.
While considering the submissions of the Accountant General on the low revenue remittances by many government-owned enterprises, the PAC Chairman said there was a need for stricter measures to block revenue leakages through automation of processes and regular audit exercises.
Salam also tasked the Accountant General, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of 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.
He disclosed that the 2021 Auditor General report which was recently submitted to the National Assembly will receive accelerated consideration immediately after the passage of the 2024 Appropriation Bill currently before the House.
Earlier in her speech, the Accountant General of the Federation attributed the delay in the submission of the consolidated financial statement to a lack of sufficient data of government revenue from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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 informed the committee of several initiatives of her office to strengthen existing regulations and initiate new ones to promote greater accountability in public expenditure management.
She assured that the Financial Regulations 2009 has been reviewed and only awaiting the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to be operational.
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