A non-governmental organisation, Defenders of Constitutional Democracy (DCD) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to expedite action in the appointment of a substantive auditor-general for the federation.
The group in a statement in Abuja by its national chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu lamented that the vacuum being created by the absence of a substantive auditor-general was hurting the country’s efforts in auditing ministries, departments and agencies of the federal government, thereby allowing corruption to fester in the public service.
It reminded Tinubu that since the retirement of the then auditor-general, Adolphus Aghughu in September 2022, the office has been without a legal occupant.
“After his retirement, the Federal Civil Service Commission advertised the position on 11th August 2022 but the process was inchoate. Instead, we now have an anomaly where an Overseeing Director was appointed, who has been operating since then.
“Your Excellency, as a professional accountant and auditor yourself, we urge you to revisit the process, conclude it and immediately appoint an Auditor General for the Federation to save the nation from this embarrassment and the damage it is doing to the nation’s public finances,” the statement said.
The group said that the government’s inability to appoint an AuGF since 2022 has also halted the operations of the public accounts committee of both chambers of the National Assembly.
According to DCD, the report of the auditor-general for the federation for three years has been in abeyance and has not been filed in the National Assembly which is an aberration.
