Eze Onyekpere(censoj@gmail.com; 08127235995)

The Annual Report of the Auditor-General of the Federation on the accounts of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the year ended 2017 which was submitted to the National Assembly in 2019 contains some curious but disturbing developments. It states that 160 agencies defaulted in submission of audited accounts for 2016; 265 agencies defaulted in submission of audited accounts for 2017; while 11 agencies have never submitted any financial statements since inception. The AuGF recommended that stringent sanctions, including withholding financial releases and sanction of the chief executive officer, be imposed on defaulting agencies that do not render timely accounts, as provided in the Constitution and other relevant laws.

What are the implications of this failure to report and how should the Federal Government respond in light of the anti-corruption campaign and the need to improve transparency and accountability in government? Even the agencies that reported had a lot of issues, violations, illegalities and irregularities to respond to. It is clear that refusal to report is on the ascendancy considering that the number of defaulting agencies in 2017 increased by 105 compared to the 2016 figure. What could have informed the increased numbers? The implication of this increase is that there was no sanction(s) on the 2016 offenders or if any sanctions were meted out, they were not commensurate with whatever benefits accruing to the leadership of these defaulting agencies. Law is inter alia jurisprudentially described as the command of the sovereign backed by sanctions. If the law has no sanctions and enforcement mechanisms, then it becomes a moral adjuration, subject to the dictates of its addressees.

The second issue is that the 2017 Audit Report did not contain a list of the 265 agencies that failed to report. However, the names of the agencies that reported and the infractions and issues against them were copiously and meticulously reported with recommendations by the AuGF. Some of the recommendations include recovery of public money and property and the activation of sanction mechanisms in various laws and policies. The implication of the foregoing is that the agencies that failed to report are unknown to the Nigerian citizens who are the ultimate sovereign power holders. But there are some forms of naming and shaming of agencies that have complied with the reporting requirement through revelations of their fiscal felonies and misdemeanours. Thus, the leadership of any agency with serious infractions has a rather disturbing option – not to report, which leaves it out of public scrutiny and evidently, nothing will happen to them and Nigerians cannot even comment on their crimes. It is therefore more rewarding not to report and prepare financial statements when the accounting officer of an agency knows that they have committed financial crimes against the public treasury.

The third and most disturbing issue is the 11 agencies that have never submitted any financial statements since inception. This means that these agencies may not have reported from the date of their establishment to date. Maybe 10, 15, 20 to 30 years and no one has had the presence of mind to caution them. These agencies operate on a world of their own, they are above the law and no one dares call them to order. Again, the names of these agencies are not in the public domain. The implication is that the leadership of these agencies are literally getting away with fiscal and economic murder.

It has become imperative to change this narrative through sanctions. The first recommendation is anchored on the duty of the accounting officer- the permanent secretary, director-general, among others, to report on the resources of government entrusted into his care. Thus, where the accounting officer fails in this basic duty, he should be sanctioned through the stoppage of his remuneration and where this persists, he should be suspended and removed from office. A new accounting officer should be appointed with an immediate mandate of reporting on the management and finances of the agency within a short timeframe.

The second recommendation is that the name of the defaulting agency and its accounting officer should be published in the annual audit report so that Nigerians can bring the requisite pressure to bear on these accounting officers who consider themselves above the law. The media and civil society will have the opportunity to campaign for their removal from office if the authorities decide to look the other way. The third recommendation is that failure to report by an accounting officer should be made an offence and should attract a term of not less than four years imprisonment. Again, it should be included in the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and should be a ground for arraignment, trial and punishment before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

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