The Zamfara state government, through the Auditor General of the state, Alhaji Abubakar Danmaliki Gidan Goga, has presented copies of the audit report to media and civil society organisations (CSOs), saying it’s part of the accountability and good governance of the present administration in the state.
Presenting the copies to Zamfara state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Ibrahim Musa Maizare and representative of CSO’s on Tuesday at the office of the Auditor General in Gusau, the state capital, the Auditor General Abubakar Gidan Goga said it’s the first time in the history to present copies of the audit report to the media and CSO’s in the state.
“I am glad to welcome you all to this maiden interaction between my office and you, an occasion that is the first of its kind held by this office.”
“As required by Section 125(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, this office, upon receipt of financial statements and accompanying schedules from the Accountant General, is to submit a report within ninety (90) days of its receipt to the state assembly, which shall be considered by its committee on public accounts.”.
“In the same vein, Zamfara State Audit Law 2021, Section 40(1), also made similar provisions to achieve transference and good governance, which are the cornerstones of the present administration.”.
“I therefore want to seize this opportunity to register my appreciation to His Excellency for the highly moral and budgetary support he has been rendering to this office.”.
“By our conventions, I will have shunned the press and civil society organisations, but your advocacy brought us this per. Thank you for helping to entrench public accountability and good governance.”.
According to him, the practice is for the accountant general to prepare annual financial statements and courses to be submitted to the office of the auditor general for further examination, certification, and reporting.
“The reason for your invitation is to inform you of the progress made so far. Today’s event is to enable me to have interaction with you and also make copies of the report available to you.”.
“As some of you may be aware, there are other mandatory requirements, i.e., the annual audit activity report and the performance audit report on government programmes and projects, and I am happy to inform you that while the primary responsibility has been discharged, the other two reports will be made available to the assembly soon.”
Nigerian Tribune