By Oladosu Adebola Oluwaseun
…There’ll never be anything again like a fuel subsidy scam in Nigeria – Rep. Salam
The House of Representatives on Tuesday underscored the need for the implementation of fiscal reforms aimed at ending endemic corruption at all levels of governance in the country.Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Rep. Bamidele Salam gave the charge in Abuja, during a press briefing on the forthcoming Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance (NCPAFG) with the theme: ‘Fiscal governance in Nigeria: Charting a new course for transparency and sustainable development,’ scheduled for Sunday 6th to Thursday 10th July 2025, which is to be declared open by President Bola Tinubu.Rep. Salam explained that the strategic initiative by the Public Accounts Committee and the House of Representatives at large was aimed at repositioning “Nigeria’s fiscal governance and public accounts management systems towards greater integrity, enhanced efficiency, and robust accountability.”
It will also serve as a veritable platform to mainstream the Renewed Hope Agenda into global fiscal governance transparency structures to firmly reestablish Nigeria’s leadership both regionally and at a continental level.”
As a crucial stakeholder charged with the constitutional mandate to oversight public financial management activities and review reports of audit and accounting institutions, we note that Nigeria stands today at a critical juncture in its journey toward fiscal governance reforms.”
While some progress has been made over the years and particularly the notable reforms under the current administration, entrenched systemic challenges remain. These challenges include limited full-cycle audit implementation, high-level institutional financial leakages, a skewed and opaque public financial reporting system, and widespread non-enforcement of financial protocols across MDAs at all levels of government.”
Available records from 2020/2021 Auditor Generals reports reveal that over a quarter-trillion Naira in public expenditures remain unaccounted for, with high incidents of unauthorized virements, growing numbers of audit queries each fiscal year, and the reported cases of more than 60% of MDAs persistently failing to comply with financial regulations. These trends, if left unchecked, will continue to erode public trust, undermine sustainable national development, and weaken our democratic institutions.”Rep. Salam who applauded President Tinubu’s policy which resulted to the scrapping of fuel subsidy on assumption of office on the 29th May, 2023, maintained that “there will never be anything again like a fuel subsidy scam in Nigeria.”
According to him, “at the end of the conference, we expect tangible outcomes, including but not limited to achieving: A significant reduction in unaccounted expenditures from over ₦300 billion to less than ₦1 billion in the next fiscal year 2026; A drop in the number of audit queries and rate of non-compliance with financial regulations from over 60% to less than double digit at 9% through rigorous capacity building development.”
A measurable significant improvement in Nigeria’s Fiscal Governance Health Index (FGHI) across all levels of government through enhanced transparency measures using digital technology tools for sustainable national development; Issue a High-Level Broad Stakeholders’ Communique that will outline actionable policy, legislative and institutional recommendations required to chart a new course for fiscal transparency and sustainable development.”
Among the expected legacy outcomes are the development of a National Blueprint for Digital Audit and Financial Management, and establish Nigeria’s National Fiscal Governance Working Group, a multi-stakeholder body that would be tasked with sustaining reforms and institutionalizing good fiscal governance practices nationwide.”
In his assessment of the country’s fiscal governance, he said: “there is no doubt in the fact that, as a country, we still have a long way to go in terms of deepening our fiscal governance systems and structures. And that is why almost all tiers of government, Executive, Legislative, and the Judiciary have, at various points in time, had to have interventions on issues coming out of mismanagement of public resources.”
It is our belief, because when you have a country as large and as diverse as Nigeria, you have to put some things in place to ensure that you don’t allow people to commit infractions and get away with it because of the span of time it takes to track most of this expenditure.”And one of the problems we have identified in the Public Account Committee, actually, also linked to the last question, is the fact that, for example, as we speak, the reports we have before the National Assembly is the Auditor General’s report for 2021.
Now, this was around 25, that’s four years after. In most cases, those who were alleged to have committed those infractions, some have retired. Some have changed their office job role. Some have even gone to the world beyond.”And so when you sit down to consider most of these issues, it becomes a little bit tricky and difficult to get to the root of some of the matters because those who are the present occupiers of the office or playing those roles at the moment have little or no information on those things that happen there. And we believe that one of the ways through which we can bridge this very, very huge gap is to call all stakeholders to attention and learn from what happens elsewhere.”We have had a study tour of the Public Account Committee in Ghana. We had a study tour of the Public Account Committee in Nairobi, Kenya. We had a study tour of the Public Account Committee in Rwanda.”
And in each of these jurisdictions, we have discovered that the centrality of the Supreme Audit Institution, which is the Auditor General for the Federation, is very, very key to whatever you want to do, especially in the line of prevention of most of this corruption and mismanagement of resources.”But if that office itself is starved of resources or starved of manpower, it will impact on its outputs. And don’t forget, it is that output of that committee that, by virtue of Section 85 of the Constitution, referred to the Public Account Committee.”
