The Senate in Abuja has reaffirmed its support for a constitutional amendment to enhance the capacity of the Office of the Auditor-General at the federal and state levels in discharging its statutory responsibilities.
The action followed a bill sponsored by Sen. Ahmed Lawan seeking to place the Office of the Auditor-General on the first line charge of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The bill, which passed its second reading, also seeks to empower the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation to audit the accounts of statutory corporations, commissions, authorities and agencies of government, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC).
The Senate referred the bill to its Committee on Constitution Review for necessary action.
In his lead debate, Lawan identified poor funding over the years as a significant impediment to effectiveness of the Office of Auditor-General.
He said the office was now facing acute shortage of accommodation, inadequate and poorly trained personnel.
He added that the paucity of funds had left workers in the office “at the mercy’’ of the “auditee” while discharging their statutory responsibilities.
Lawan said that in other countries, the auditor-general’s office was funded through direct appropriation by the parliament.
“The task of providing adequate funding for the OAGF squarely lies with the parliament because the Executive Arm of Government is an ‘auditee’ and, therefore, would logically prefer an “underfunded”, weak, inefficient and ineffective office and this applies to the states,’’ he said.
The senator also drew the attention of the lawmakers to sections 85 (3) and 125 (3) of the 1999 constitution(as amended ) which prevents the Office of the Auditor-General from auditing accounts of government statutory bodies at federal and state levels.