By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has expressed concern over the low implementation rate of the capital component of the 2024 budget.
Thr Chairman Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Rep. Bamidele Salam, during an interactive session with the Accountant General of the Federation, Dr. Shakirat Madein, on Wednesday, revealed that only 25 percent of the capital budget has been implemented.
The chairman who stated that the underperformance hinders economic growth and development, urged the AGF to expedite the submission of the 2022 Consolidated Financial Statement to the Auditor General in line with constitutional provisions.
Rep. Salam lamented Nigeria’s lag in timely audit report submissions compared to Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda, attributing this to delays in financial statement submissions by the Accountant General’s office.
Addressing revenue leakages, the committee called for stricter measures, including process automation and regular audits of Government-Owned Enterprises. It also instructed the Accountant General, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Interior to resolve issues delaying the automation of revenue collections from foreign missions to enhance transparency.
Rep. Salam disclosed that the 2021 Auditor General’s Report, recently submitted to the National Assembly, would be prioritized once the 2024 Appropriation Bill is passed.
In her remarks, Dr. Madein attributed delays in the consolidated financial statement to inadequate data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) but assured that efforts to resolve this are near completion. She pledged to conclude the process within two months.
The Accountant General also highlighted ongoing initiatives to enhance public expenditure management, including a review of the Financial Regulations 2009, which is awaiting Federal Executive Council approval.