By Chika Otuchikere
The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) Mr. Ahmed Idris has given a marching orders to auditors of the various Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to produce reports to the accounts officers of the establishment or face sanctions.
Mr Idris who gave the order in his opening remarks on Wednesday, during a virtual meeting with directors, heads of Internal Audit of the MDAs, expressed regrets that the auditors have been lagging in timely submission of the reports.
His words: “Permit me to also use this opportunity to reiterate on the need for Auditors to put in their reports promptly as and when due as specified by FR 1706 which states thus: “The Internal Auditor shall produce monthly, quarterly and half-yearly reports for the Accounting Officer on the progress of the audit with copies to the Accountant-General of the Federation and Auditor-General for the Federation” respectively.
“Regrettably, it has been observed that most MDAs are behind in their reports while others have willfully refused to render these reports which are clear violation of the provision of the Financial Regulations.
“Consequently, may I inform you that refusal to forward these reports by any MDA forthwith would be regarded as an attempt to undermine the authority of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Head of Internal Audit of such defaulting MDA(s) will be duly sanctioned”.
Mr Idris disclosed that it was in continuation of the Audit Modernization project that the audit Monitoring department organized the interactive/sensitization session to bring to the knowledge of all Internal Auditors about the IDEA software since it is meant to be deployed service-wide.
“Audit Modernization is a key component of the Economic Reform and Governance Project. It is upgrading the level of audit from current practices to a level where audits are conducted in line with international best practices, using modern approach and information and communication technologies.
“And I have no doubt that the deployment of the IDEA software would enhance and optimise the internal control environment. I encourage all MDAs concerned to key into this project by acquiring this software so as to speed-up the Internal Audit functions Modernization,” he said.
