As we enter the New Year and await the considerations of the 2014 Appropriation bills before the National Assembly and the 36 Legislative Assemblies by the legislators, one remembers in a special way, the Nigerian Association of Public Accounts Committees (NAPAC); an umbrella organisation of all the Public Accounts Committees of the two chambers of the National Assembly and the 36 State Assemblies of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The International Centre for Development and Budget Advocacy (ICD), a civil society group was there on the 7th day of November 2013 as a stakeholder in Public Finance Management in Nigeria as the National Association of Public Accounts Committees (NAPAC) was inaugurated in Abuja.
NAPAC is aimed at developing standard procedures and processes to achieve the constitutional mandate of the Public Accounts Committees as enshrined in Sections 85 and 125 of the 1999 Constitution as amended and other extant Acts; provide avenue for interaction, sharing experiences, ideas and information among members on issues relating to the functions of Public Accounts Committees; develop the individual capacity of members , promote good governance in Nigeria ; liaise with the Offices of the Auditor –General for the Federation and the States to adopt international best practices in auditing and production of Audit Reports ; collaborate with bodies such as anti-corruption agencies and civil society organisations in ensuring transparency, probity and accountability in the management of public funds of the nation; liaise with national, regional and international associations of Public Accounts Committees such as- Association of Public Accounts Committees of South Africa and West African Association of Public Accounts Committees and to develop the capacity of Public Accounts Committees’ staff and Secretariats.
It was a very good outing participating in the plenary of NAPAC, seeking for the way forward in the course of resolving the challenges facing public finance management system and accountability in Nigeria, because after considering the fourteen years of democracy and the rising rate of poverty and corruption that have bedevilled the land and its people; there is no doubt that the missing link is our poor management of the budgetary process and lack of governance accountability.
The annual budget instrument has been considered by development experts as the single most important policy instrument through which elected governments can transform for good the living conditions of their citizens and infrastructure of their societies. But in Nigeria, the annual budget has come to be an annual economic and political ritual which does not reflect positively in the lives of the ordinary people and the infrastructural base of the nation, year in and year out.
Governments’ annual budgets in Nigeria have become mere political and conduit pipes through which elected and appointed public and civil servants siphon the commonwealth of the Nigerian people to themselves and their business cronies. This ugly scenario is what NAPAC says it wants to check to ensure good governance, accountability and the promotion of the welfare of citizens.
According to the chairman ,Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawal ‘’ As government and governance become more complex and intricate and public expenditure pattern and trends expand to cover more societal needs, there is a compelling need for legislatures to improve on their effectiveness and efficiency in scrutiny and oversight of public expenditures by governments ’’
With the end of 2013 fiscal year and the ushering in of 2014 fiscal year, it is expected that the 38 chapters of the Nigerian Association of Public Accounts Committees (NAPAC) will brace up to the challenges of legislative oversight of ensuring that the 2013 budgets implementations are audited and reports made public to ascertain the level of compliance of the implementing authorities in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Audits and Performance Evaluations is the concluding stage in the public budget cycle. According to the International Budget Partnership (IBP), an organization that collaborates with civil society around the world, to use budget analysis and advocacy as a tool to improve effective governance and reduce poverty. ‘’ the last stage in the budget cycle includes a number of activities that aim to measure whether public resources have been used effectively. Ideally, the executive branch of government should report on its fiscal activities to the legislature and the public. Expenditures should also be subjected to regular review by an independent and professional body, such as an audit institution or a country’s Auditor-General. The findings of audit body should be submitted to the legislature, which is responsible for holding the executive accountable for its budget execution practices. Evaluation and auditing enable the legislature to determine not only whether the government has followed the budget law, but also whether public resources are being used in the best possible way.’’
It is also important for the legislature to ensure that the 2014 budget proposals before the National and State Assemblies are scrutinised and examined to guarantee proper appropriations and reduce public resource waste. Appropriate mechanisms should also be put in place to facilitate the monitoring of the 2014 budgets at the National level and the 36 States to promote service delivery and value for money through the budgetary process.
The coming of a national legislative network like NAPAC, that is well integrated with the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation and those of the 36 states certainly lays strong foundation for Public Sector accountability and performance. Let this relationship enhance the effectiveness of the audit institutions as well as Public Accounts Committees; trigger greater momentum for the amendment to the Constitution in Sections 85 (3) and 125(3) to empower the Auditors-General for the Federation and the States to audit the accounts of government Statutory Corporation, Commissions, authorities and agencies established by law directly; and to speed up the passage of the Audit Bill for an Act for the establishments of the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation , Audit Service Commission, additional powers and functions and for matters connected therewith. These efforts at reforming the public accounts laws will, if concluded place the funding of the Offices of the Auditor-Generals for the Federation and the States on the First- Line-Charge of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
When these are achieved, then a signal would have been sent to all and sundry that the era of impunity in the misuse of public funds and disregard to due process in public finance management is over.
By: Ugochukwu Jim-Nwoko
