President Muhammadu Buhari
yesterday, stated that the desired level in the fight against corruption was
yet to be attained.
Buhari Speaking at the Conference
of Auditor-Generals in Nigeria, in Abuja, Buhari who was represented by the
Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, therefore
tasked auditors-general in the country to contribute their own quota in the
task of enthroning transparency and accountability in the public sector so as
to deepen the fight against corruption.
He said, “At the inception of this
administration, three cardinal goals were set: these are security, fight
against corruption and revamping of the economy. Three and the half years down
the life of this administration, I am pleased to report that tremendous achievement
has been recorded in all three areas. I will say, however, that the desired
level in the fight against corruption is yet to be attained.
“Despite this continued effort on
the part of government, gap still remained to be closed, especially in the area
of external auditing.
Buhari said since inception, the
current administration had introduced several different initiatives, especially
in the financial and management sector aimed at stemming the tide of
corruption.
Some of this initiatives, he said, include the
treasury single account, which have tremendously reduced leakages in the
system, as well as the Presidential initiative on Continuous Audit, PICA.
He said, “PICA have the mandate
to validate controls, assess risk, probe a small cost, ensure compliance with
public financial management refunds, detect errors and make recommendations to
management for necessary actions.
“Recently, I approve several sweeping reforms
in the public finance sector so as to further reduce waste and drive up
revenue. This reforms include performance monitoring, that will set financial
indicators and targets for revenue generating for government owned enterprises;
new measures for expenditure controls, budgeting and financial reporting
requirement.”
Buhari further stated that
henceforth, the account of government-owned enterprises shall be audited within
the period of four months after the end each financial year, adding that the
role to be played by auditors-general in the success of this new reforms can,
therefore, not be over emphasized.
“Let me challenge you all to
think about how progress should be measured and I look forward to this as part
of the outcome of your deliberations. The Sustainable Development Goals, SDG,
adopted by all United Nations’ member state, is a universal call to action to
end poverty and protect the planet and ensure that all, people enjoy peace and
prosperity.
“These are well captured eithin
the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP. Independent evaluation by
auditors, for the success or otherwise of the implementations especially in the
management of looted funds; against the right of proper implementations of the
treasury single account TSA, the input achieved through the NPower programme,
the lives that have been improved through the social safety net, conditional
cash transfers and the school feeding programme and the visible progress with
growth and real infrastructure, Across the country are all necessary
ingredients for improvement,” Buhari maintained.
Also speaking, Auditor General of
the Federation, Mr Anthony Ayine, said if the audit function performs well in
its role, the journey towards achieving the SDGs would be shorter and smoother,
adding that where audit institutions are weak, the chance of achieving the SDGs
become even more remote.
He also stated that unless the
basic needs of humanity are met, the risk of more part of the country
degenerating into unrest is higher. He emphasised that the challenge of
development was not for the Federal Government alone, adding that the problems
started when the basic amenities and opportunities of life are not available to
human beings.
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