Audit Professionals Urge President Tinubu To Sign Federal Audit Service Bill To Replace 1956 Act

Audit experts have urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign the new Federal Audit Service Bill, which the National Assembly passed but former President Muhammadu Buhari did not sign, to replace the 1956 Audit Act.

Mr. Ismaila Muhammadu Zakari, a past president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), led a team of other experts who called on the president to ensure speedy assent to the bill that the National Assembly passed in March 2023.

Other audit experts who spoke at the third Audit Reporting Training organized by FrontFoot Media Initiative include Mr Babatunde Kolawole, ICAN Fellow and a partner at HLB Z.O. Ososanya and Mr Yusuf Doma, ICAN Fellow and Head of Internal Audit at Premium Pension Limited, Abuja, and Mrs Umeshie Bernadine Anikwe, an accountant and educationist.

Auditing issues the experts noted include that the Federal Government has had no audited account since 2019 with no explanation and the failure of many local governments to submit audit reports stipulated in the 1999 Constitution.

Zakari added that local government audits are non-compliant with the ICAN Accountancy Index 2017.

Zakari proposed for future constitutional amendments a resolution that governors and the president should take responsibility for presenting the respective audit reports to the legislature.

He said such a change would compel compliance with the deadlines for submission of the audit reports outlined in the constitution.

The Audit Reporting Training participants agreed that effective public sector auditing would enhance democracy in Nigeria by checking excesses and engendering citizen trust and confidence.

The Audit Reporting Training was held on 5 and 6 July 2023 at Reiz Continental Hotel, Abuja. It followed earlier ones at Benin City and Awka in 2022.

FrontFoot Media Initiative says the Audit Reporting Training is its flagship capacity development programme to promote democracy by equipping the media with skills and the ability to report on the mandatory state and federal Audit Reports.