Government personnel and organisations are increasingly ignoring legislative summonses, according to Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
During the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance, which was co-hosted by the House of Representatives and Senate Public Accounts Committees (PACs), Akpabio, via Senator Abdul Ningi, urged the PACs to fulfil their constitutional mandates under sections 80, 81, and 88 of the 1999 Constitution.
The PACs can call any government person to account for taxpayer money. A breach of the rule of law and an insult to democratic ideals would be any reluctance to appear, according to Akpabio.
He voiced his disapproval of the increasing rate of non-compliance among MDAs and called on PACs to restore their oversight authority by conducting thorough investigations and reviewing expenditures based on performance.
Particularly in complicated enterprises like the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and the Central Bank of Nigeria, Akpabio argued that digital technologies and improved technical support should be used to bolster legislative oversight.
“Legators need concrete plans to strengthen fiscal accountability; this conference should not conclude with empty rhetoric,” he emphasised.
In the meantime, Abbas Tajudeen, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has voiced his displeasure with the ineffective audit enforcement procedures in Nigeria, exposing the fact that public audit queries totalling more than N300 billion have gone unanswered.
Abbas, who was represented by House Leader Julius Ihonvbere, demanded an end to the ongoing failure to implement audit recommendations. There ought to be repercussions for monetary transgressions, in his view.
He stressed that the 10th House is taking a more aggressive stance to guarantee that MDAs adhere to financial standards by using digital audits, real-time tracking systems, and follow-up systems.
“Fiscal oversight is no longer a ceremonial process, it is a strategic instrument for national growth,” Abbas said, adding that the House is attempting to better publicise and explain audit reports.
Beyond the appropriation process, he pushed for continuous monitoring of budget performance and a unified national audit system to guarantee fiscal discipline at all levels of government. We are instituting a system of audits by sector and evaluations based on performance and impact,” he said.