Deborah Akinyosoye
In a bid to ensure transparency and accountability in public expenditure, the National Assembly is on the verge of passing the Audit Bill.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Bamidele Salam, made this known on Monday at the start of the national conference jointly convened by the public accounts committees of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The Osun State-born lawmaker explained that both Chambers of the National Assembly have expressed readiness to speedily pass the piece of legislation, which has been delayed for the past 10 years.
While acknowledging the bold initiative by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration in terms of the various reforms initiated to enhance public revenue, remove wastages and address various social and economic challenges, he said there is an urgent need for stakeholders to unite around a common agenda of an urgent need to combat the ills of corruption, impunity and abuse of due process in public sector financial management.
“Making public funds work for public good is a mantra we must not only proclaim but must be seen to internalise and practice in all we do as public servants,” he said, adding that in the last two years of his stewardship as the chairman of the committee, he has seen the need, more than ever before, to address fundamental issues around the timeliness and quality of financial reporting systems, the integrity of budgeting and the procurement process.
He stressed that as Africa’s biggest economy and the most populous black Nation on earth, Nigeria must play a leading role in the economic emancipation of the continent, adding that there is no way it can be achieve if there are no concerted, conscious efforts to recalibrate our fiscal responsibility systems and improve on the country’s global transparency index.
He acknowledged that under the Rt. Hon. Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, his committee had not once interfered with the successful conduct of its investigative hearings, but rather provided substantial encouragement and support to ensure that it delivered on the committee’s mandates as enshrined in the constitution and the standing orders of the House