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Only 9 States have their financial statements published on their official websites out of 36 States of the Federation, however with selected years.
These states includes: Lagos State (2012 – 2015), Ogun State (2014 & 2015), Edo State (2015), Cross River (2015), Ekiti State (2010 – 2017), Enugu (2016 & 2017), Kaduna (2015), Kogi (2015 – Q1 2018) and Kwara State (2007 – 2018).
According to Section 125, chapter 5, part 2 of the Nigerian constitution, the law provides that “The public accounts of a State and of all offices and courts of the State shall be audited by the Auditor-General for the State who shall submit his reports to the House of Assembly of the State”.
Analysts say States may be deciding not to publish financial statements to cover corrupt practises and it also begs the question of the credibility of Auditor generals in auditing the public accounts of the state government.
States of the federation hide under the loophole that exists in the provision of the law that mandates the preparation and auditing of the public accounts of each state without an express mandate to publish for the public to see.
This provision mandates the State Treasury Office to prepare an audited financial statement which discloses amongst other things the statement of Asset and Liabilities, Statement of Consolidated Revenue Fund and Statement of Capital Development Fund.
However, BusinessDay findings show that while some states saw a need to publish these accounts on their official websites, other states did not have these information available on their official websites. Some study on this also reveals a careful selection of financial statements periods to be published with other periods missing.
To a large extent, a published financial statement depicts transparency and accountability. Countries like the United States, United Kingdom and India to mention both a few, have their financial statements published. However, the Nigerian constitution only permits the submission of financial statements to the State House of Assembly.
Auditor –General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine, in 2017 stated “financial resources in particular are special interest to all”. He also added that “the fundamental responsibility of the auditor general is protection of public interest through detailed and objective examination of public accounts”. However, what is missing is the credibility of the audit general’s report since he can be appointed by the state government. Transparency is justified when it is opened to the general public not only limited to the state house of assembly. Since the goal of the entire process is to protect the interest of the public and is of special interest to all, the public also need to be put into consideration.
Analysts add that passage of a bill that mandates transparency of State, Local and Federal governments through publishing of financial statements will restore some level of confidence to the general public.
DAVID IBIDAPO
