In the wake of the #EndSARS protest where millions of young Nigerians across the globe have unanimously called for the dissolution of the rogue Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police Force, Connected Development (CODE), hereby demands that the Nigerian Government awakes to its fundamental obligation of securing the lives and property of its citizenry.
Nigerians have long battled the menace of dire brazen security challenges—ranging from Boko Haram insurgency to Farmer-Herders clash, spate of sexual and gender-based violence and the menace of the rogue police unit. Actions to combat these security conditions have been inconsequential compared to the magnitude of attacks and chaos in their wake. With corruption entrenched in the sector, sustaining an effective and efficient security policy continues to be a far-cry.
The challenges threatening the sovereignty of the country are enormous; now is not the time for President Muhammadu Buhari to be verbose. Youths are being hunted and killed unjustly; families are displaced; livelihoods are destroyed, human rights are violated Nigerians deserve stability, security and an improved quality of life.
It is no news that the security sector is highly politicised and has since become a tool of government coercion —with journalists and civil society members being unlawfully detained. The constitutional rights of the Nigerian citizen have consistently been infringed, disrespected and people now live in fear—depicting a total mockery of our democracy.
The Nigerian leadership must seize this opportunity to walk the talk and drive a much-needed security sector reform. It is not enough to merely dissolve the unit of the Nigerian Police; CODE demands that perpetrators of the police/SARS brutality and extrajudicial killings face the wrath of the law and are held accountable, especially leading up to those peaceful protesters who were either shot or killed during this recent protest. There must also be a thorough investigation into all alleged SARS-induced disappearances & killings.
The embodiment of the Security force must rethink the lame strategy of overburdening security agencies and vigilante groups and invest in adequate training and capacity building. This will reduce overhead and operational costs, efficiently improve the security expenditure and expose the inherent corruption in the system. The apparent lack of transparency and opaque budget and procurement practices in the management and utilization of security funds in Nigeria has contributed to its operational shortcomings and frequent misconduct.
It is quite unfortunate that the President has not displayed the political will and courage to remedy these problems. He should seize this opportunity to win back citizens’ trust.
We commend the thousands of Nigerian Youth that took to the streets over the weekend to protest and decry alarming police brutality, assaults and wanton killing of young unassuming Nigerians by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. This shows that when advocacy is intentional and our voice is unified, citizens have the ability to spur the change we need to see. Nigerians should not be silent in the face of injustice but must continue to speak against it.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed that it “spent N30,540,563,571.09, representing 84% of the N36.3 billon public funds and donations received to respond to COVID-19 between 1st April, 2020 and 31st July, 2020, leaving the balance of N5.9 billion.”
The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Anthony Ayine stated this in response to the Freedom of Information request dated 10 August, 2020 and sent to him by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Connected Development (CODE).
In the letter of response dated 4th September 2020, and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare and CODE Chief Executive Hamzat B. Lawal, the organizations said: “We also note among others that the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 spent N22 billion; and 36 states received N7 billion to support their COVID-19 initiatives.”
The groups said: “We also note that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) spent N877 million for deployment of assets in support of COVID-19 operations; while the Nigeria Police spent N500 million on personal protective equipment. N17,865.09 was paid as bank charges.”
The response by the groups, read in part: “However, we also note that the documents sent to us do not contain other significant details as indicated in our FoI request dated 10 August, 2020, including details and breakdown of the number of Nigerians who directly or indirectly have benefited from the spending.”
“It is refreshing to note that 115 ordinary Nigerians donated between N1 and N100 to support the authorities’ efforts to fight COVID-19, despite the fact that it is the country’s poorest and most disadvantaged sectors of the population that continue to bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“This is a huge lesson for public officials and politicians about the idea of public service to one’s country. It also sends a powerful message about the need for politicians to see public service as an opportunity to serve and give something back to the country, and not mismanage, steal or divert the people’s commonwealth for personal benefits.”
“We welcome your demonstrated commitment to transparency and accountability, and hope other public officials and institutions would emulate and learn from the good example you have shown by honouring and respecting FoI as a matter of routine and practice.”
“We would therefore be grateful to receive more specific details and additional information on the spending of N34.4bn between April and July, and details on plans to spend the balance of the balance of N5.9 billion in the COVID-19 Eradication Support Accounts.”
“Of the N36.3bn public funds and donations, N1.4bn came from Nigerians and companies through accounts at the First Bank; Access Bank; GTB, Zenith, and UBA, while N536m donations were made through the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN]. The N536 donations comprise of N89m and N279m from the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.”
“In addition, China General Chambers of Commerce in Nigeria donated N48m; the Petroleum Equalization Management Board gave N50m while the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board donated N70m.”
“We would be grateful if the requested details and additional information are provided to us within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP and CODE shall take all appropriate legal actions under the Freedom of Information Act and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to compel you to comply with our request.”
“We are writing to acknowledge receipt of the undated letter from the Accountant General of the Federation, but received 2nd September, 2020, on the above subject-matter in which the Federal Government provided some information on inflows and outflows of COVID-19 funds, drawn from COVID-19 Eradication Support Accounts. We appreciate your co-operation in this regard.”
Specifically, the groups are asking Mr Ayine to provide to them with the following:
Details and breakdowns of where the N34.4bn public funds from the Federal Government came from, and whether or not the money was duly appropriated by the National Assembly;
Details of specific projects and activities on which the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has spent the N22.16bn, which represents 72% of the money spent, including how the spending has directly or indirectly benefited Nigerians, as well as details of any such beneficiaries;
Details and breakdowns of the N7bn given to 36 states, and the specific amount of money collected by each state. This money represents 23% of the total amount spent within 4 months;
Details and breakdowns of the N877m [2.9% of the money] spent by the Nigerian Air Force for deployment of assets in support of COVID-19 operations, as well as the nature of any such operations;
Details and breakdowns of the N500m [1.6% of the money] spent by the Nigeria Police on personal protective equipment;
“The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation should also take steps to approach and request from the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force, and the 36 states any of the details highlighted above, if the information is not held by your Office, in line with the provisions of the FoI Act.”
“Under the FoI Act, other public institution or institutions that may be holding the requested information are obligated to provide the information.”
“Please accept the expression of our highest consideration. Thanking you in advance of your urgent attention to the matter.”
Leading Non-Governmental Organisation on social accountability in Africa, Connected Development (CODE), has commended the Taraba State House of Assembly for passing the State Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Bill before the stipulated deadline.
Chief Executive of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, responding to the news, stated that the Taraba House of Assembly has proved itself as the people’s parliament by rebuilding residents’ trust in government institutions to deliver improved public service delivery.
Recall CODE, had met with the Taraba policy makers in November, urging that they erase bottlenecks and accelerate the second reading and other processes of the WASH bill, so that the residents of Taraba can have access to adequate safe water and basic sanitation; provided at an affordable cost in a sustainable manner in order to promote their health, dignity, economic well-being and improved livelihood. The legislators had vowed to present the bill to the governor before the new year, a promise kept.
Now that the bill has been passed, CODE, with the support of the USAID Effective Water Sanitation and Hygiene Services Program (E-WASH), is calling on Governor Darius Ishaka, who once won Water Man of the year, not to delay in ascending to the bill. The WASH Law positions Taraba State on the path to harnessing investments that will meet the WASH needs of the people.
According to CODE, there are thorny issues that the Law will address such as tackling the poor coordination in the implementation of projects, weak institutional capacity, and undefined or overlapping roles for various WASH agencies and stakeholders. It will also ensure the adoption of best practices on sanitation that meets the needs of Taraba residents.
CODE’s Lead on the USAID-EWASH project, Ijeoma Oforka, commended the State Community-Based Organisations, State Media Organizations, the WASH Customer Forums and other WASH groups in Taraba State for pressuring the government and holding them accountable for its promise to the people. This this bill passage shows the power of a collective voice to accelerate social change, she added.
Although, the Taraba WASH bill is yet to be ascended, the State has been making intentional efforts to provide residents with potable water and address sanitation issues. CODE urges Delta and Niger to tow this path to minimise the effect of WASH issues on public health. Delta and Niger States must fast-track actions on implementing policies that will ensure the consistent provision of clean and safe water and improve sanitation facilities for its residents, Oforka added.
CODE had initially begun a countdown on social media to the ascension of the bill, now it plans to countdown to Governor Darius’ assent. According to it, the long-term impact of a structured WASH system is the eradication of open defecation, the provision of WASH facilities in schools and strategic public spaces, the reduction of water-borne diseases, among other remarkable impacts.
Has the world become more hypersexual? Or have people become more vocal about sexual harassments and abuse? These questions linger on one’s mind as the number of reported rape cases and abuse continue to increase on news platforms. The Inspector-General of the Nigerian Police, Mohammed Adamu, said in July 2020 that the Police Forice recorded 717 rape cases in 5 months. This alarming increase has triggered a nation-wide revolt, where a number of groups, citizens and Civil Society Organisations like CODE, TechHer, EIE, EVA, StandtoEndRape and other initiatives are raising their voices and calling on the government to declare a State of Emergency on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
Protesters against SGBV in Abuja
Sadly, women and girls are the worst-hit— especially as they already grapple with disproportionately high records of marginalisation all over the world. Violence against women and girls is not only a devastating phenomenon for families and the society, it is a pandemic that affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime, according to WHO. In Nigeria, 17% of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to sexual or physical violence at least once in their lives.
While we are concerned about the staggering statistics, we are equally reminded that behind these figures are real people with real experiences who are going through untold mental issues in the wake of these atrocities in a country where there is a prevalent negligence of issues that do not fetch more money to those in power. Gender-based violence is also becoming a rising issue in online communities and girls or women who dare to report such incidences have either been shut down or have had to bow to pressure to leave the platforms as a result of threats and shaming. Reporting can be even harder as most victims are defiled by close relatives and family friends.
Protesters of SGBV
In an ideal situation, this realisation should induce empathy, but more importantly, drive relevant agencies such as the Police Force, the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Ministry of Women Affairs and anti-SGBV initiatives to continue to provide succour and protect SGBV survivors. The disruption in these crucial services is compromising the care and support that survivors need, like clinical management, mental health check and psycho-social support. It is also allowing perpetrators to go unpunished.
At the moment, only a handful of Nigerian States have functioning Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC) and are implementing laws that specifically protect women and girls from domestic violence. There are currently 22 SARCs in Nigeria which is significantly low and insufficient for caring for survivors. Many of these referral centres are poorly equipped. This shameful reality portrays how less of a priority SGBV cases are handled in the country.
The Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP Act), that clearly outlines laws to expunge violence in Nigeria and in turn, ensure respectable living and decent behaviour among citizens of Nigeria, has still not been domesticated in 20 States, 5 years after its enactment. The act seeks to prohibit all forms of violence, including physical, sexual, psychological, domestic, harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation; and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders. Although 25 States claim to have adopted the Child Right Act, there are prevalent cases of child marriages and child abuse in many communities in the country, especially in Nigeria’s North. The poor implementation of the Act has also fuelled impunity for the perpetrators of SGBV.
One of the protesters laments the rising case of SGBV in Nigeria
NAPTIP must be strengthened to domesticate the VAPP Act across the country and also increase citizens’ awareness of its laws and implications of violations. Safe spaces for survivors of rape, domestic violence and sexual assault must be highly prioritised. Communities need to be educated on the need to protect victims of SGBV and not shame them or turn a blind eye. Cyber-bullying and slut-shaming of survivors is significantly on the rise, many survivors are afraid to speak up because of the backlash the society deals them—although this is gradually changing as there are support groups springing up, more needs to be done in this regard. Sexual predators and rape apologists must face the wrath of the law.
Oftentimes, a survivor’s first point of contact is the health centre, and the quality of service will either begin the healing process or deepen the scar that these victims already carry. Functional facilities that provide proper care for survivors including counselling must be established. SGBV care-providers, qualified specialists and counsellors must be adequately trained to meet global standards. In the same vein, dedicated centres that address SGBV and help victims seek redress (if they desire) should be fully equipped and readily accessible.
As a society that is still largely patriarchal, values like consent, gender equality, and a renewed glance on old harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation and incest must be discussed in groups and authoritative platforms to further educate the public. Women’s contribution to society’s development should be embraced, and their interests fully represented and protected by all means.
In October 2017, CODE commenced tracking government and international aid spending in Northern Nigeria, with particular focus on first-mile healthcare delivery and infrastructural provision for universal basic education.
We were on a mission to advance economic governance and promote transparency and accountability at State and Local levels in Nigeria. Our team empowered 84 communities in Yobe, Kano, Plateau, Borno, Kaduna and Adamawa states with information, data and knowledge to engage their elected government representatives on funds earmarked for capital projects in their communities. At the end of the project duration, we had tracked NGN 523,743,810 (USD 1,454,843.92) and impacted 1,276,780 people.
To ensure community ownership of the Follow The Money model, we organised community gatherings in Yobe, Adamawa, Borno, Plateau and Kano States, hosting community leaders, CBOs, religious leaders, SBMCs and PTA members, women leaders, youth leaders, other local groups, and local media organizations from an estimated 40 communities across the 5 states respectively. Over the course of the project cycle, we discovered a large vacuum in information sharing by the government, low compliance to the Freedom of Information Act, non-inclusion of community governance structures in project implementation, discrepancies across project sites and low citizens participation in governance processes.
Incorporating and fronting companies is a convenient and effective way of concealing identity, engaging in illicit transactions and evading liabilities. In many countries, a company can be formed without disclosing the identity of the individual who ultimately controls or profits from the business, i.e., the beneficial owner. Criminals and politically exposed persons (PEPs) can assign “nominee” shareholders to be listed on official documents or can list other legal entities (other companies can be shareholders in a company) as the “owners,” thereby creating a chain of companies–often across borders–that can be difficult for investigators and law enforcement to trace and recover.
Connected Development (CODE), has over the year, through its Conflict & Fragility project, in partnership with Oxfam-in-Nigeria advocated for a robust beneficial Ownership transparency through the instrumentality of a robust legislation as an essential means for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. While many initiatives exist to maintain and disclose beneficial owners of companies in Nigeria, like the Beneficial Ownership Register launched by Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in December 2019, none of them until the enactment of the 2020 Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) had the statutory backing for enforcement.
Documents from Panama papers on Dan Etete and Kolawole Aluko can be used as classical case studies in demonstrating how these two individuals, like many others, capitalised on the non-existent or fragile regulatory framework in Nigeria’s extractive “oil & gas” sector to launder money and evade liabilities which has cost the Nigerian government and people revenue in the billions of dollars. Till date, none of the aforementioned persons has been successfully prosecuted and convicted partly due to concealment of identities and fronting of shell companies in their transactions. Shell companies are legal entities “companies” that are non-operational and lack assets or staff. They are conveniently used by money launderers to keep their identities hidden while they engage in illicit transactions across borders and evade tax.
Dan Etete: Dan Etete, a former Petroleum Minister under Nigerias Dictator Head-of-State, Gen. Sani Abacha had in 1998, incorporated a Shell company named “Malabu Oil & Gas Limited” using a fictitious name “Kweku Amafegha”, with few other persons, while he was the ultimate and beneficial owner of the company – though his real name did not appear in any official documents. Five days after he incorporated this company, he, as Petroleum Minister, awarded this company an oil block “OPL 245”. He used this shell company to launder money across the Nigerian border and acquire luxurious assets, while escaping liabilities.
Kolawole Aluko: Kola Aluko is a businessman and oil executive. Media reports have described Aluko as a key ally to Alison-Madueke, a relationship both have previously denied. He rose to prominence around 2011 when Nigeria’s government awarded two companies he founded or owned valuable oil blocks on a no-bid basis. One of his companies, Atlantic Energy, was created the day before it inked the deals to acquire multimillion-dollar oil licenses.
In Nigeria, only a member of a Public Company (PLC) was under obligation, under the old 1990 CAMA, to disclose in writing when required, the capacity in which he holds any shares in the company; either as a beneficial owner or as a nominee of an interested person. See Sections 94-98, old CAMA.
The 2020 CAMA in section 119 has extended such obligation (to disclose the particulars of shareholding by notifying the company) to persons with significant control in all companies. Similarly, as provided in section 120 of the new CAMA, a person who is a substantial shareholder in a public company and holding (either by himself or by his nominee/proxy) shares in the company which entitle him to exercise at least five per cent (5%) of the unrestricted voting rights at any general meeting of the company, is required to disclose such holding by notifying the company within a stipulated time.
This new disclosure provisions are poised to enhance transparency and prevent asset shielding as well as combat money laundering, terrorism financing and all forms of illicit financial flows by legal entities having limited liability.
While there is no gainsaying that the above disclosure provisions would enhance transparency and accountability in the Extractive sector in Nigeria, especially in the Petroleum Industry, as many of the oil and gas companies are private limited liability companies (LTD); many of which have ‘rightly’ escaped disclosure obligations with no legal sanction – there is also an urgent need for the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) which has as one of its core objectives – “to promote transparency and accountability in the administration of petroleum resources of Nigeria”.
CITIZENS’ APATHY AND THE NEED TO REBUILD TRUST, CODE SEEKS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Lack of transparency, poor social accountability, information gap, weak social contracts; illiteracy; citizenry apathy and distrust in government, are entrenched governance challenges in Nigeria
Connected Development (CODE) seeks to address these misnomers by amplifying voices of marginalised grassroots communities that are often denied access to basic human needs despite that funds are allocated for the implementation of development projects in these regions.
CODE is bridging the information gap between citizens and the government, tackling financial leakages and bringing governance closer to the people at the grassroots. We do this by empowering citizens with the knowledge, skills and capacity to demand for the provision of quality public services in their communities.
Consequently, essential development projects, previously abandoned or which otherwise would not have been implemented, are being restarted and completed, accelerating social development in these regions, fighting inequality and promoting inclusive development.
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Understanding that citizens apathy was increasing and government continued to fall short of expectations, CODE’s overall 2019 objective was to make a significant difference in increasing citizens and government’s consciousness towards rebuilding trust.
Our 2019 campaigns enabled platforms for informed debate between public institutions and citizens and also advocated for more government agencies to leverage digital communications to foster trust, increase transparency and ensure better accountability.
CODE’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal
Over the past seven years, CODE has showcased consistency and doggedness in amplifying the voices of the marginalized. In 2019 specifically, our team deployed innovative strategies and global best practices in empowering citizens, especially the grassroots dwellers to demand for improved services in healthcare, water, education and development infrastructures. On the other hand, we petitioned government to provide these services so that citizens faith in governance can be regained. Our advocacy influenced government policies for the acceleration of socio-economic development.
CODE tracked NGN 1,277,500,000 (USD 3.5 million) budgeted for projects in 69 grassroots communities—calling for improved first-mile health infrastructure and services, demanding that a state of emergency be declared on education because of the alarming increase in the number of out-of-school children and campaigning for communities to access safe clean water, we impacted over 2 million lives.
We further saved the Nigerian people and the government the sum of N477 million by blocking financial leakages in funded rural community projects. Our work gained global recognition when Follow The Money emerged winner of the 2019 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Mobilizer Award and also won the Council of Europe’s Democracy Innovation Award as the initiative advancing the cause of democracy.
CODE’s Communications Director, Kevwe Oghide
CODE further petitioned anti-graft agencies to investigate oil industries that abuse human rights, partake in illicit financial flows and exploit the fragility of oil producing communities in Nigeria. Our team further engaged policy makers, stakeholders and beneficiaries, on effecting policies that promote gender inclusion in Community Development Councils.
Key reoccurring challenges that our team continue to face are; threats for exposing misappropriation of funds, poor access to data to enable tracking of government funds, security issues in North-East of Nigeria, and limited funds in reaching more grassroots communities.
We, however remain dogged in promoting a sustainable FTM model to ensure that true democracy is achieved—where citizens are empowered in every sense and their collective voices are heard. In hindsight, it can be said that CODE experienced yet another year of growth and influence.
With incredible support from the CODE team, our State champions, our partners and donors, we will continue to innovate better ways to hold government accountable and advocate best policies in favour of marginalised communities. With each effort, we get closer to our goal of empowering Africa, one community at a time.
Follow The Money Tracks N569 Million UBE Spending in Kaduna State, Enhances State Policy for Participatory Basic Education
Follow The Money, has completed the tracking of the implementation of N569 million Naira Universal Basic Education fund in Kaduna State over the course of three years.
The campaign which was supported by the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation under its ON-Nigeria project, monitored the construction and rehabilitation of 23 basic school projects in Kudan, Kajuru, Zangon Kataf and Jema’a Local Government Areas (LGA) of the State. The project was triggered by the growing concern of the increasing number of out-of-school children in the country.
At a meeting with the Chairman of the State’s Universal Basic Education Board, Follow The Money Founder, Hamzat Lawal, commended the State for its open government policy and for allocating 27% of its budget to developing education. He noted that as a way of increasing citizens’ interest in government, the FTM team drafted a policy for participatory basic education spending in the state which mainstreams SBMCs in Kad-SUBEB’s UBE work planning and implementation.
The Executive Chairman, KadSUBEB, Mr Tijjani Abdullahi, revealed that the State Universal Basic Education Board (Kad-SUBEB) will develop a framework that allows the School Based Management Committees (SBMCs) to make inputs into the Kad-SUBEB’s annual plans and grant them access to the list of school projects that are to be implemented for monitoring effective service delivery.
He added that although about 500,000 children returned to school pre-COVID19, there is the need to build more Classrooms for the students, as measures to enforce social distancing in the classroom, during the pandemic.
Recall CODE had met with the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, last year to present a needs assessment report conducted on 609 schools for evidence-based UBE action planning in the State. The report showed that a considerable increase in the enrolment of children in schools was as a result of the School Feeding Programme, however, 92 percent of the schools do not have access to ICT materials or computers in accordance with basic education curriculum.
The initiative urged the State to provide ICT materials and computers to schools, provide potable drinking water for the majority of schools that lack these facilities, and ultimately ensure that adequate WASH facilities are in school to encourage girl-child educational enrolment. Dr Balarabe had assured that the State is committed to strengthening its workforce and welcome the support CODE to make it happen.
Follow The Money further empowered the School Monitoring Teams (SMTs) to effectively provide oversight on basic education spending in the state. Through this, the project impacted over 200,000 rural lives, and significantly reduced the number of out-of-school children in the focal LGAs.
The project titled Tracking UBE Spending in Kaduna State, sought to identify and highlight key issues of lack across schools in the LGAs especially in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene, infrastructure and learning aids, ratio of teachers to pupils and the safety of the learning spaces for the children.
There are several benefits to be derived by the time President Muhammadu Buhari finally appends his signature to the Federal Audit Bill, passed by the National Assembly (NASS).
The Eight (8th) Senate, had in May 2018, passed a Bill for the establishment of the Federal Audit Service Commission, in line with Mr. President’s government’s anti-corruption fight.
The Bill was read the third time and passed at a plenary session presided over by then President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki. The Senate mandated its leadership to engage the executive with a view to getting Buhari to sign the bill before the end of the 8th NASS.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts (then), Matthew Urhoghide, while presenting his report, said: “This Bill is very important to the nation as passing it into law will form the bedrock for fighting corruption, which is one of the cardinal objectives of the President’s administration.
Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari
“It will empower the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, who has the constitutional mandate of auditing all accounts of the federation to nip corruption in the bud, ensure transparency in government transactions.”
Urhoghide added: “The Bill will address acute manpower shortage, existing in the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and bring it in tandem with supreme audit institutions and international best practices, as obtained in other climes such as South Africa, Ghana, and the United Kingdom.”
The Audit Bill, for the records, was not new to the 8th Senate. It was first passed by the House of Representatives in April 2016 and transmitted to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate passed the Bill on Thursday, March 1, 2018. But due to disparities in the version passed by the two chambers, a conference committee was set up to reconcile areas of differences. The Bill was eventually harmonized and passed by both chambers. The harmonized copy was forwarded to Mr. President for assent on January 8, 2019.
Sadly, the Audit Bill has since become orphaned, two years after its passage by NASS. The Bill was prematurely ‘murdered’ by the refusal of Mr. President to give it his assent. The Bill, among other things, will greatly assist in blocking revenue leakages and curtail corruption, when it finally becomes a law. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) such as Connected Development (CODE), has always been in the vanguard of anti-corruption.
Specifically, CODE, in collaboration with OXFAM Novib, is galvanizing Nigerians against corruption, through its various advocacy programs, one of which is massively mobilizing citizens to support the entrenchment of an audit law. It has since kick-started an online campaign, soliciting Nigerians to sign a petition, with a view to pressuring the government into assenting to the Audit Bill.
CODE noted that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation plays a vital role in public financial management and anti-corruption measures, especially by ensuring compliance with financial rules and regulations and due process in public expenditure.
It, however, said that, currently, political interference and Constitutional constraints have limited the independence and functioning of the AGF. “The AGF currently lacks the oversight powers to enforce its mandate and there are no sanction measures against defaulting bodies and persons in place. This results in gross financial recklessness and public fund embezzlement that deprive the Nigerian government and people of money needed for development, in sectors such as health and education,” it added.
According to CODE, “the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (OAGF) reported that 65 MDAs had never submitted their financial statements for audit since January 12, 2017, when he assumed office. “Furthermore, the 2017 Audit Report published by the Office of Auditor General for the Federation had defaulting MDAs rising to 265, up from the 160 defiant ones in 2016.
“The AGF report noted that as of April 2018, 109 agencies had not submitted their financial statements beyond 2013, while 76 agencies last submitted for the 2010 financial year.”
While calling on President Buhari to assent to the Audit Bill, the civil society body, said the passage of the Bill will be a major feat in the fight against corruption and would ensure that MDAs submit their yearly audited financial accounts to the Auditor General for the Federation. Hence, preventing corruption, illicit financial flows, bribery, abuse of public office/trust, money laundering and mismanagement of public funds as reported in the Malabu/Dan Etete Case.
Similarly, both the Senate and House of Representatives Public Account Committees, have insisted that the Audit Bill that was passed in the 8th Assembly, which the President did not assent, remains very sacrosanct and would be resuscitated by the 9th Assembly.
The Chairman, Public Account Committee of the Senate, Sen. Urhoghide, and his House of Representatives counterpart, Hon. Busayo Oluwole-Oke, who co-chaired a session of stakeholders on the Audit Bill, said the 9th NASS will breathe a new life into the Bill and ensure its passage again.
Both Sen. Urhoghide and Hon. Oluwole-Oke lamented that the nation’s current audit practice does not meet the global best practices and that necessary reforms that would empower and enable the office of the Auditor General of the Federation to function optimally and efficiently are imperative.
They spoke at a 3-day Stakeholders Consultative/Technical Session on the Audit Bill organized for members and staff of the Senate, House of Representatives Public Account Committees, and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF) in Abuja, last October.
Head, Technical Support, Partnership to Engage, Reform, and Learn (PERL) Engaged Citizens (EC), Mr. John Mutu, who facilitated the session explained that it was aimed at finding a common solution to ensure that the Audit Bill succeeds in becoming a law.
Mutu explained that the main objective of the session is to provide a platform for the National Assembly’s Public Account Committees (NASS PACs), the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF) and the Presidency to reflect and review the Audit Bill, so as to identify areas of concerns that prevented the President from giving his assent to the Bill.
At the session, Urhoghide, noted: “We have to ensure proper auditing of the spending of public money. If we strengthen the office of the Auditor-General, it will block leakages and we will save a lot of money and this will also check corruption drastically”.
On his part, Oluwole-Oke said if the Bill becomes law, it would enable the Auditor General to carry out his duties very efficiently and effectively. “Unfortunately, the President withheld his assent even without giving reasons. Now the Bill is dead constitutionally. But we shall resuscitate it since our House rules give us the provision to start from where we stopped in the 8th Assembly,” he pointed out.
National Team Leader, Engaged Citizens Pillar (ECP) of DFID’s Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn (PERL), Dr. Adiya Ode, during the auspicious session, noted that having the audit law in place would strengthen the Auditor General to perform his functions well, and also send a signal to corrupt people that they would be exposed and prosecuted.
Experts and scholars in their various presentations during the technical session, equally maintained that without the audit law in place, it might be very difficult to achieve thorough auditing and that the nation’s revenue would continue to leak, particularly in the government agencies that generate revenue for the nation.
It is incontrovertible that the absence of an audit law has given rise to impunity in the use of public resources in several MDAs. This is evidenced in the limitless numbers of probes conducted on key agencies of government, which completely indicted them of malpractices of different sorts.
The absence of proper auditing in the MDAs is also responsible for the fusion of unwarranted projects in the budget of most MDAs. Projects are not subjected to either procurement, financial, or performance audits.
It is therefore incumbent on the President Buhari-led government, to activate every necessary mechanism that will bolster its anti-graft fight.
The country direly needs a robust, and well-articulated audit law that will not only guide accounting officers and other responsible parties involved in the MDAs on the standard procedures in the application of public funds but will also encourage performance in programs and budgeting in the MDAs.
That is why Mr. President must once again, diligently re-scan the Audit Bill, carefully identify grey areas in the current Bill, and then facilitate the process for quick harmonization of the perceived grey areas with NASS, before proceeding to sign the bill into law.
Having a ‘progressive-defined’ audit law in place will indeed serve as an elixir for his government’s war against corruption.
