Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF) on Wednesday denied being responsible for the delay of the 2017 and 2018 audit reports of federal agencies.
The last published audit report was for the 2016 fiscal year.
The OAuGF in the statement said the incumbent Auditor-General, Mr Anthony Ayine, has cleared the backlog of outstanding audit reports for 2015 and 2016, shortly after he assumed office in January 2017.
The statement added the OAuGF was poised to work tirelessly to sustain timely submission of reports.
“The annual audit reports up to 2017 have been submitted to the National Assembly and that of 2018 is near completion. Our website shows uploaded reports for up to 2016 which can be downloaded by members of the public”, it said.
The OAuGF further explained that the 2017 annual audit report, which has been submitted to NASS, would also be uploaded on the website once the legislative arm of government wraps up work on the report so it becomes a public document.
“When audit reports are submitted to the national assembly, the law requires that the Public Accounts Committees (of National Assembly-NASS) hold hearings with officials from the audited Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to clear any grey areas, as only the NASS has that Constitutional power and responsibility”, the statement added.
The AuGF also said his Office enjoys a cordial relationship with the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Senator Matthew Urhoghide, saying at no time did he worry over the delayed audit reports.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is on record that the PAC Chairman was grossly misquoted. In fact, during the Budget Defence, Senator Urhoghide commended the Auditor-General for doing so much with very minimal resources and pledged the support of the Committee in ensuring that the OAuGF gets whatever necessary assistance it needs to deliver on its mandate”.