Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu
Tambuwal Tuesday stormed the National Assemble without security details.
Tambuwal who arrived NASS at about
10:45am in an SUV jeep spotting white agbada and cap to match was accompanied
by APC lawmakers who shielded him all through his stay.
The speaker who was in NASS to
declare open two public hearings slated for 11am and 12noon respectively later
went to his office.
The speaker at a one of the
public hearing, jointly organised by the House Committees on Public
Account and Justice, on a bill to repeal the nation’s Audit Act of 1956 urged
financial experts to support an audit act, to facilitate international best
practices and assist to eliminate corruption from the financial system.
Tambuwal said that Nigeria must
align with modern trend in digital auditing.
He said that the extant Audit Act of
about 60 years ago did not give the Office of the Accountant-General of the
Federation the required instrument to fight corruption.
Tambuwal said the new act, when
passed into law, would create Audit Service Commission that would enable Office
of the Auditor General of the Federation to restructure auditing practice in
the country.
He said this would subject it to
modern trend in digital auditing.
He said the public hearing offered
financial experts ample opportunity to make inputs in the bill.
It would also allow the
parliamentarians the platform to gather sufficient information to impact on the
overall interest of the bill, the speaker added.
Tambuwal also urged participants to
contribute meaningfully by ensuring that all aspects of the bill were
thoroughly x-rayed and brought in line with international auditing practice.
Earlier, the Auditor-General of the
Federation, Mr Samuel Ukura, condemned the non-existence of an auditing act in
the country.
He said that the 1956 colonial
provision was removed in the country’s laws since 2004.
Ukura said that Nigeria was the only
country in the world without a functional auditing act.
He further described it as an
inadequacy that had robbed the country of the opportunity of auditing
international accounts, “including the ECOWAS account, which headquarters is in
Abuja’’.
“Ghana audited the United Nation’s
account for 30 years, and then passed the baton to South Africa, which is
currently auditing the UN accounts.
“Nigeria had been severally denied
because the UN has been uncomfortable with Nigeria’s lack of auditing law.
“It is very rare to see an MDA
coming to the National Assembly with a bill to have its finances audited.
“This bill, therefore, will put an
end to the lingering question of who audits the auditor,’’ he said.
Ukura said it would be impossible
for the Office of Auditor-General to fight corruption without having the legal
means to do so.
Also, the Chairman, House Committee
on Public Account, Solomon Olamilekan (APC-Lagos) said when passed into law,
the bill would impact on the society and add value to Nigeria’s financial
system. (NAN)
Tambuwal storms NASS without security details
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Tuesday, November 04, 2014
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