The body of the Federal and State Auditors-General of Nigeria has advised government functionaries to be more active in the fight against corruption in the country.
The national chairman of the body, Sunday Adegoke, made the call in Abakaliki on Monday during the official flag of a four-day capacity-building workshop for the state and local governments’ auditors-general in the Southeast zone.
Adegoke noted that financial misappropriation and other corrupt activities have become a global challenge and advocated for a total clampdown on the menace in Nigeria.
According to him: “The public finance actors, especially the key government functionaries who hold one or more responsibilities managing public finances—they are primarily responsible parties to ensure that this menace (corruption) is brought down.
“There is a possibility, and the risk is there, that may spot a place for the managers of the public finances to need to detect each fraud—that is, either to detect or prevent the fraud to stop financial misappropriation and other corrupt related issues in Nigeria.”
Adegoke, who is also the Edo State Auditor General, explained that the workshop was centred on ‘enhancing public sector auditors’ performance for relevance and value addition’ in the country.
He said the capacity-building programme would equip his members with prerequisite knowledge and guidelines to ensure the sustenance of the standards requirements of the organisation in the public auditing profession.
He stressed the need for the auditors general to always discharge their expected duties as public auditors of financial reports to avoid fraud.
“We will just come in as reviewers to take a look at whatever report they have submitted and look at the financial management system. And where, for instance, a fraud is detected, we report it so that those places can be dealt with as provided by the laws.
“And what we have come here is to strengthen the capacity of the personnel,” the chairman stated.
He maintained that the auditors general should be guided by the provisions of the Constitution of Nigeria while carrying out the public finance auditing before submitting the report(s) to the House of the Assembly in their various states.
He observed that no erring auditor would escape the wrath of the law as the various auditors have their codes of conduct checking the professional members’ actions and activities.
The head of the sub-supreme body in Ebonyi State, Dr. Samuel Uduma, said the four-day training programme would be of great benefit to the auditors-general, especially in getting abreast with the prerequisite knowledge for the public auditing profession.
He commended the Ebonyi State governor, Francis Nwifuru, for sponsoring the programme and described the gesture as the first of its kind in the country.
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