{"id":15332,"date":"2017-07-10T15:05:53","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T14:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/?p=15332"},"modified":"2017-07-10T15:05:53","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T14:05:53","slug":"transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/","title":{"rendered":"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

The Auditor General for the Federation, Mr Anthony Mkpe Ayine, says Nigeria\u2019s quest for good governance will become a reality when transparency and accountability become the watchwords of all public office holders in line with President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s war on corruption. Ayine made the declaration at the weekend in Lagos at the opening of a two-day retreat hosted by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation in collaboration with the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

He explained that the citizens of any country are the ultimate owners of the country\u2019s resources, which must be managed for their benefit by government. Pointing out that financial resources in particular are of special interest to all, and as such, \u201cwhen these resources are effectively, efficiently and economically managed for the benefits of the citizenry, good governance is said to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayine pointed out that good governance rests on some key pillars, critical amongst them are transparency and accountability. \u201cYou cannot have good governance when these pillars transparency and accountability are lacking.\u201d While commending President Buhari for his firm and principled stand on the anti-corruption war in Nigeria, he added that corruption thrives under a hidden environment.<\/p>\n

Explaining that the concept of public accountability has a process, he noted that parliament entrusts government of the day with public funds, while the government of the day in turn reports back to parliament how these resources have been used or utilized. He said in between this process lies two critical bodies which are at the heart of public accountability, \u201cthese being the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF).\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, as much of the work of the National Assembly is carried out by committees, one of the most powerful and important of such committees, is the Public Accounts Committee, which he said is constitutionally provided for as a standing committee. \u201cPAC essentially seeks to ascertain to what extent revenues have been collected and expenditure incurred in the manner government or the legislature approved or intended; PAC uses auditor-general\u2019s report(s) and oversight functions to examine accounting officers and other persons entrusted with the receipts and utilisation of funds and other assets. At the end of its consideration of Auditor-General\u2019s report(s), PAC submits a report of its conclusions and recommendations guided by auditor-general\u2019s recommendations to the whole house, the National Assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking further, he said ideally as it is the practice in developed economies, within 90 days of submission of PAC\u2019s report and consideration by the National Assembly, the Executive Arm is required to respond in form of a memorandum, indicating what actions have been taken or proposed to be taken in relation to PAC\u2019s findings and recommendations, thus completing the accountability cycle.<\/p>\n

Ayine stated further that PAC\u2019s scrutiny of the national accounts facilitated by the auditor-general\u2019s report(s) \u201cprovides an integral part of public accountability. In his words, \u201cthe fundamental function of the auditor-general is the protection of public interest, through a detailed and objective examination of public accounts and timely reporting to the legislature, to enable it ascertain how the resources entrusted to government have been utilized\u201d.<\/p>\n

The auditor general emphasized that independent audit carried out by the auditor-general helps to give assurance; public accountability is diminished without such independent audits. PAC on the other hand, assists parliament in ensuring that public funds are used in keeping with the intentions of government, particularly as regards economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of such funds.<\/p>

\r\n
Advertisement<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\u201cPAC also has to consider to what extent the desired outputs, outcomes and impacts have been achieved. PAC\u2019s role, therefore, is not only complementary to that of the auditor-general, but when properly played, helps to strengthen the Office of the Auditor-General, It is mainly against the foregoing reasons that a close working relationship with the PACs of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, is not negotiable. Harmonious relationship (between the OAuGF and the PACs) is vital in the interest of good governance, transparency and greater public accountability in Nigeria\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, in a goodwill message delivered by the Chairman, House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, Honourable Ogundu Kingsley Chinda, told the audience that \u201cTransparency and accountability issues cut across tribe, religion, ethnicity, political party, country of origin; it\u2019s like environmental issues. So, once it\u2019s taking place in Nigeria, it affects any other person even in any other part of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to him \u201cAll the problems that we have in our country today, ranging from militancy to Boko Haram in the north east are all based on the issues of injustice, which is also hinged on transparency and accountability. If we are more transparent and more accountable, there is no doubt that we will be able to tackle almost all the problems that besiege us today. Nigeria is talking about restructuring; the only reason is because we are not sufficiently transparent in our transactions and in our relationship with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honourable Chinda said the theme of \u201cPartnership between the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation and the Public Accounts Committees: A must for the entrenchment of transparency and accountability in a growing democracy,\u201d speaks to the critical need for both parties to collaborate to tackle the issues of transparency and accountability for the good of the country at large.<\/p>\n

According to Chinda, \u201cThe issue of accountability and transparency to me is a war, it is a battle; and we are all soldiers in that battle. With the Auditor-General and the Public Account Committee, we are generals in the war. And if you are in battlefield, the command of course is always \u2018no retreat, no surrender.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The retreat, which was supported by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and the United Kingdom\u2019s Department for International Development (DFID), has several senators and members of House of Representatives in attendance, including Senator Gbolahan Dada, Vice Chairman, Senate Public Accounts Committee, who represented the committee\u2019s chairman, Senator Andy Uba, as well as the Auditor-General of Ghana, Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo, Deputy Auditor-General of Sierra Leone, Tamba Momoh and Dr. Rasheed Draman of the West African Association of Public Accounts Committees (PACs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The Auditor General for the Federation, Mr Anthony Mkpe Ayine, says Nigeria\u2019s quest for good governance will become a reality when transparency and accountability become the watchwords of all public office holders in line with President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s war on corruption. Ayine made the declaration at the weekend in Lagos at the opening of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":15333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[2278,2277],"coauthors":[2392,2393],"class_list":["post-15332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","tag-accountability","tag-transparency"],"yoast_head":"\nTransparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General - National Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General - National Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  The Auditor General for the Federation, Mr Anthony Mkpe Ayine, says Nigeria\u2019s quest for good governance will become a reality when transparency and accountability become the watchwords of all public office holders in line with President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s war on corruption. Ayine made the declaration at the weekend in Lagos at the opening of …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-10T14:05:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Auditor-General-for-the-Federation-Mr.-Anthony-M.-Ayine-FCA.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"376\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"435\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dayo Emmanuel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/\",\"name\":\"National Wire\",\"description\":\"About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Auditor-General-for-the-Federation-Mr.-Anthony-M.-Ayine-FCA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Auditor-General-for-the-Federation-Mr.-Anthony-M.-Ayine-FCA.jpg\",\"width\":376,\"height\":435},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/\",\"name\":\"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General - National Wire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-10T14:05:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-10T14:05:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/806673c5851717dc3067b1a46a6c060f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/806673c5851717dc3067b1a46a6c060f\",\"name\":\"Dayo Emmanuel\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/author\/dayo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General - National Wire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General - National Wire","og_description":"  The Auditor General for the Federation, Mr Anthony Mkpe Ayine, says Nigeria\u2019s quest for good governance will become a reality when transparency and accountability become the watchwords of all public office holders in line with President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s war on corruption. Ayine made the declaration at the weekend in Lagos at the opening of …","og_url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/","og_site_name":"National Wire","article_published_time":"2017-07-10T14:05:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":376,"height":435,"url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Auditor-General-for-the-Federation-Mr.-Anthony-M.-Ayine-FCA.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dayo Emmanuel","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/","name":"National Wire","description":"About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Auditor-General-for-the-Federation-Mr.-Anthony-M.-Ayine-FCA.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Auditor-General-for-the-Federation-Mr.-Anthony-M.-Ayine-FCA.jpg","width":376,"height":435},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/","name":"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General - National Wire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2017-07-10T14:05:53+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-10T14:05:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/806673c5851717dc3067b1a46a6c060f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/transparency-accountability-pillars-good-governance-auditor-general\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Transparency & Accountability Are Pillars Of Good Governance \u2013 Auditor General"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/806673c5851717dc3067b1a46a6c060f","name":"Dayo Emmanuel","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/author\/dayo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15334,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15332\/revisions\/15334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15332"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=15332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}