By Paul Dasimeokuma
Nigeria currently manages a staggering ₦68.32 trillion budget through an audit framework that is effectively a colonial relic. The Audit Ordinance of 1956, which remains the primary reference for federal audit reports, technically ceased to be part of Nigerian law in 1990 and is conspicuously absent from the 2004 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. This creates a legal lacuna, a dangerous, silent void where the nation’s financial watchdog is forced to bark using the authority of an obsolete law that has no place in a modern republic. As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu navigates the Renewed Hope agenda, the Federal Audit Service Bill, already passed by the National Assembly, represents a low-hanging fruit for structural reform that can no longer be ignored.
The current auditing function in Nigeria has devolved into a frustrating exercise in report writing without consequence. Under the present system, the Auditor-General for the Federation produces an annual report, which is then sent to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly. The committees conduct hearings, invite heads of agencies, and eventually produce their own recommendations. Yet, despite this high-level activity, the cycle of financial felonies and misdemeanors continues unabated.
Evidence shows that audit recommendations are treated with levity by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, while follow-ups are virtually non-existent despite clear Financial Regulations. The result is a culture of impunity where the same infractions, including unvouched expenditures, missing assets, and unremitted revenues, appear in reports decade after decade.
The Bill is the structural answer to this stagnation. It seeks to move Nigeria from a limited, department-based audit model to a modern Supreme Audit Institution structure, consistent with global best practices. By transforming the office into a Service, the Bill ensures that auditing becomes a core pillar of national economic security.
The Bill also provides for the establishment of an autonomous Federal Audit Service and a Federal Audit Board. This Board will fundamentally strengthen the independence of the Auditor-General for the Federation, particularly concerning recruitment, promotion, and discipline. Currently, the Auditor-General relies on the Federal Civil Service Commission for staffing, a situation that often leads to a mismatch in specialised skills. An independent Board would ensure the office is shielded from political interference and staffed by professionals answerable only to the standards of their craft.
For the first time, the Bill explicitly empowers the Auditor-General with both the power of the purse and the power of sanction. It authorises the Auditor-General to surcharge public officers for expenditures not duly brought into account and, more importantly, to withhold the emoluments of any person who refuses to reply to audit queries within 30 days. This closes the long-standing accountability gap where audit findings were merely advisory.
In the past, an agency could simply ignore an audit query without consequence. Under the new Bill, silence would carry a direct financial penalty, providing the legal teeth necessary to compel compliance with financial discipline.
Beyond internal accountability, the Bill is also a crucial signal to the international community. Nigeria was successfully removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in October 2025, a hard-won victory for the nation’s financial reputation. However, that victory must be protected. The Financial Action Task Force framework explicitly monitors audit oversight of public funds as part of its financial integrity assessments. Maintaining a 70-year-old framework that technically no longer exists in current laws risks signaling to global monitors that Nigeria’s anti-corruption reforms are superficial.
Similarly, the International Monetary Fund, in its June 2025 Article IV Consultation, called for strong expenditure management and transparent reporting. Assenting to the Bill would therefore amount to an act of economic diplomacy. It would signal to institutions such as the World Bank and foreign investors that Nigeria is serious about the transparent implementation of its record-breaking budget. It would also align the country with the Lima Declaration, which mandates that Supreme Audit Institutions must enjoy the functional independence necessary to perform their duties without executive overreach.
The reform window is rapidly closing. With the 2027 election cycle approaching, administrative bandwidth for structural reforms of this nature will inevitably contract. Transitioning from the outdated 1956 framework and constituting the Federal Audit Board will require significant lead time. Assent in 2026 would give the implementation process a realistic chance to take root.
President Tinubu has frequently spoken about the need for courage in governance. Signing the Federal Audit Service Bill would be an act of such courage. Nigeria cannot build a 21st-century economy on 1950s paperwork. The time for the Audit Act is now.
Paul Dasimeokuma – Centre for Social Justice
