By Chesa Chesa
The Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), a civic organization fostering accountability in Nigeria, has charged Supreme Audit Institutions at national and subnational level in the country to extend their constitutional mandates to ensure accountability on climate change adaptation and energy transition policies and programs of governments.
Office of the Auditor General for the Federation is the Supreme Audit Institution of Nigeria at the federal level, just as State Governments have respective equivalents.
PLSI made the call at a Policy Dialogue on “Climate Adaptation and Energy Accountability – Role of Supreme Audit Institutions” held on Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria.
The organization noted that climate action is crucial for the about 95 million Nigerians who are projected to be living in poverty by the end of 2022 and with the shifting energy markets around the world, these poor Nigerians run the risk of experiencing severe economic instability, loss of property, and fatalities.
According to a statement issued by Judith Nwokoro, Head of Communications at PLSI: “They also must deal with catastrophic climatic impacts, such as flooding brought on by increasing sea levels.
“The reality that spending and policy objectives for climate adaptation and energy transition are widely acknowledged to require accountability only serves to emphasize the critical role that Supreme Audit Institutions play as foremost accountability institutions.
“SAIs must evaluate how governments respond to energy and climate change related issues in their capacity as key public auditors, aiding in both responsible and cost-effective financial management.”
The Executive Director of PLSI, Olusegun Elemo, also emphasized the importance of ensuring that funds earmarked for Nigeria’s equitable energy transition and adaptation to climate change are used as effectively and efficiently as possible.
He further expounded the necessity to evaluate and audit both the management of public expenditures as well as the effectiveness of policies and programs if Nigeria is to achieve the objectives of adapting to climate change and make the transition to a more sustainable energy source a reality.
“Considering that Nigeria is striving to deploy its resources to mitigate the effects of climate change and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, PLSI is advocating for Supreme Audit Institutions to be engaged, mandated and well-resourced with viable techniques and technologies to ensure accountable climate change and energy transition policies and programs”, he added.
