The Nigerian Senate has suspended the 2025 budget defense for the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation (OAGF), citing lack of preparedness and inconsistencies in documentation. This suspension could result in zero allocation to the OAGF, as the Senate has set Wednesday, January 22, 2025, as the deadline for budget defenses to allow the Committee on Appropriation to harmonize reports from various committees.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Wadada, expressed dissatisfaction with the Auditor General, S.K. Chira, and his team for their poor preparation. Chira reportedly appeared before the committee without adequately addressing questions concerning the 2024 budget performance of his office. Adding to the tension, the budget documents Chira presented were inconsistent with the copies distributed to committee members.
Frustrated by the discrepancies and the Auditor General’s inability to provide satisfactory explanations, Senator Wadada asked Chira and his team to leave the session. “He is the Auditor General auditing government agencies; the Senate Public Accounts Committee is statutorily empowered to audit his office,” Wadada stated, underscoring the need for diligence from the Auditor General’s office.
Addressing concerns about the possibility of the OAGF missing its budgetary allocation, Wadada noted that the onus is on the Auditor General to rectify the situation promptly. “It is left for the Auditor General for the Federation to go get prepared and return, even in two hours, now that he has been told that Wednesday is the deadline,” he said.
With the deadline fast approaching, the fate of the OAGF’s 2025 budget allocation now hinges on its ability to adequately address the committee’s concerns and present a cohesive defense before the stipulated deadline.
