Government-owned corporations, agencies, and commissions that fail to transmit their yearly audited financial statements to the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation may soon be denied budgetary allocations, following a fresh constitutional amendment proposal by the House of Representatives.
The move is aimed at tightening fiscal oversight and enforcing long-standing accountability provisions that many Ministries, Departments, and Agencies have routinely ignored.
For years, delays or outright failure by MDAs to submit audited accounts have undermined the work of the Auditor-General and weakened the capacity of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees to scrutinise public spending and sanction infractions.
Under the existing constitutional framework, MDAs are required to submit audited accounts, but there are no clear provisions regarding the timeframe.
This loophole has enabled several agencies to operate for multiple fiscal years without audited financial statements, resulting in gaps in audit reports and hindering legislative oversight.
Members of the Public Accounts Committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have repeatedly complained that the absence of up-to-date audited accounts makes it difficult to track expenditure, verify compliance with appropriations, or follow up on queries raised in previous audit reports.
It is against this backdrop that the House of Representatives initiated a constitutional alteration to compel compliance and introduce enforceable sanctions.
