Reps Raise Concerns As N250bn Missing From Public Coffers

The House of Representatives has said that the 2020/2021 Auditor General’s report revealed that over a quarter-trillion Naira public expenditures remained unaccounted for with high incidents of unauthorised virements, growing number of audit queries each fiscal year and reported cases of more than 60 percent of MDAs persistently failing to comply with financial regulations.

The chairman, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House, Hon. Bamidele Salam said this on Tuesday while briefing parliamentary reporters ahead of the upcoming National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance (NCPAFG).

Salam said these trends, if left unchecked, would continue to erode public trust, undermine sustainable national development, and weaken our democratic institutions.

He said, “If Nigeria is to reap optimally the full benefits of the ongoing fiscal governance reforms initiated by the Tinubu-led administration, then we must seize the opportunity of this conference as a platform for high-level national policy dialogue for galvanisation of stakeholders’ commitment.

“We strongly believe as important stakeholders, that it is imperative for us to leverage the opportunity of this unique conference to deepen collaboration among Public Accounts Committees, especially at the sub-national levels, audit institutions, regulatory bodies, and anti-corruption agencies.”

Salam disclosed that the event scheduled to hold from July 6 to July 10, 2025, will be graced by President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, FCT minister, Nyesom Wike; director general, Inter-governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, Edwin Harris, among others.

He said the conference which would serve as a prelude to the Annual Conference of the West African Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAPAC) later in year following Nigeria’s emergence as the winner of the hosting rights for 2025 edition had been deliberately structured to deliver strong institutional value.

Salam said the conference has specific objectives of building institutional and human capacity, strengthening audit implementation frameworks, harmonising national and sub-national laws and PAC’s practice direction.

He identified others as fostering broad stakeholder commitment to transparency and accountability, promoting post-legislative scrutiny and enhanced sub-national accountability as well as exploring global best practices in digital governance and anti-corruption.

“At the end of the conference, we expect tangible outcomes, including but not limited to achieving a significant reduction in unaccounted expenditures from over N300 billion to less than N1billion in the next fiscal year 2026. A drop in the number of audit queries and rate of non-compliance with financial regulations from over 60 percent to less than double digit at 9 percent through rigorous capacity building development.

“A measurable significant improvement in Nigeria’s Fiscal Governance Health Index (FGHI) across all levels of government through enhanced transparency measures using digital technology tools for sustainable national development.

“Issue a High-Level Broad Stakeholders’ Communique that will outline actionable policy, legislative and institutional recommendations required to chart a new course for fiscal transparency and sustainable development,” the PAC chairman added.