Office of the Auditor General for the Federation (OAuGF) is a constitutional body and the Supreme Audit Institution of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. It derives its mandate from the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended (Sections 85 and 86). The Auditor-General is empowered to undertake audits of all income and expenditure of the Federal Government of Nigeria. However, the Constitution prohibits the Auditor-General from auditing the accounts of “government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by an Act of the National Assembly.” As a result, the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation cannot audit the financial statements of parastatal organizations, although it can undertake periodic checks in such state-owned entities. The meaning of periodic checks in the context of the Constitution has not been properly defined since no accounting /auditing book has ever defined what a periodic check represents. The mandate of the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation is also restricted to the audit of Federal bodies. Each of the 36 states of Nigeria has two Auditors-General, one for the audit of state institutions and the other for the audit of local governments within the state. In total, there are 73 Auditors-General in Nigeria, more than the whole of the rest of Africa put together. However, nothing in the present legislation precludes the Auditor General for the Federation from tracing Federal public monies to any state of the Federation.

Auditor General

According to mandatory written and oral interviews set out for the position by the

Nigerian Civil Service The Nigerian Civil Service consists of employees in Nigerian government agencies other than the military and police. Most employees are career civil servants in the Nigerian ministries, progressing based on qualifications and seniority. Recently t ...

, the Auditor General for the Federation is appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. The current Auditor General, Adolphus Aghughu, was appointed as acting Auditor General on 26 October 2020 before being appointed on a permanent basis on 26 January 2021. He was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on 17 February 2021.

2021 Expenses controversy

In September 2021, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Committee on Public Accounts directed the OAuGF to turn in all relevant documents on the expenses it incurred from 2019 to 2021. This directive came after the committee found that the office had spent billions of naira in "reckless" expenses despite nationwide budget issues during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Some of the questionable expenses include ₦3.9 million spent on drugs & medical supplies and ₦7.721 million spent on medical consulting despite ₦55.933 million being spent on the National Health Insurance Scheme along with over ₦500 million spent on transport despite the

preventing most travel. A member of the committee, Ogunlola Olubunmi, asked Auditor General Adolphus Aghughu 'who audits the OAuGF', with Aghughu responding that it was the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

that would found such an office along with disputing that the spending was "reckless."

References

{{Reflist Government of Nigeria

Supreme audit institutions