Reps Warn Underfunding Auditor-Basic Might Worsen Corruption In Nigeria
The Home of Representatives has expressed concern over poor funding of the Workplace of the Auditor-Basic for the Federation (OAuGF), cautioning that continued {financial} neglect of the apex audit establishment may worsen corruption and additional erode accountability frameworks.
The alarm was raised by the Home Committee on Public Accounts throughout its ongoing scrutiny of the 2026 funds proposal of the Auditor-Basic on the Nationwide Meeting.
In inspecting the proposed 2026 allocation of N15,881,134,488 to the OAuGF, the Committee famous that the sum amounted to about 0.027 per cent of the federal authorities’s N58.4 trillion complete appropriation invoice for the yr.
Lawmakers described the allocation as grossly insufficient when weighed towards the constitutional mandate of the Workplace, which is liable for auditing greater than 1,000 Ministries, Departments and Companies (MDAs), along with different government-funded establishments.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, argued that it was impractical to count on the Auditor-Basic’s Workplace to successfully oversee and audit a proposed N58.4 trillion expenditure with such restricted {financial} help.
He revealed that budgetary limitations in earlier years pressured the Workplace to audit solely 5 out of almost 100 Nigerian international missions worldwide.
Salam additionally disclosed that within the 2025 fiscal yr, simply 4 per cent of the capital funds allotted to the Workplace was launched, a state of affairs that severely hampered its potential to operate optimally.
An evaluation of the 2026 proposed funds estimate confirmed that N5.3 billion was put aside for personnel prices, N5.6 billion for overhead bills, and N4.8 billion for capital initiatives.
The Committee noticed that with out enough funding and the well timed launch of allocations significantly capital funds the Workplace would stay unable to deploy trendy audit applied sciences, entice and retain expert professionals, or considerably enhance institutional effectivity.
Lawmakers pointed to international requirements established by the Worldwide Organisation of Supreme Audit Establishments (INTOSAI), which stresses that supreme audit establishments should be supplied with sufficient, impartial, and safe funding to discharge their duties free from exterior affect.
They additional emphasised the necessity for budgetary autonomy, noting that audit establishments are finest protected after they submit their funds proposals on to the legislature or a chosen parliamentary committee to protect their independence.
In line with the Committee, weakening oversight our bodies by way of continual underfunding finally compromises transparency and accountability in public {financial} administration.
“That is related to weak establishments, which have contributed to the corruption ravaging our nation,” Salam acknowledged.
Consequently, the Home Committee referred to as on the federal authorities and different related stakeholders to make sure sufficient appropriation and full launch of funds to the Workplace of the Auditor-Basic for the Federation, to strengthen its capability to discharge its constitutional duties and proactively curb corruption, waste, and mismanagement of public funds.
Juliet Akoje
Times Nigeria