By Mumini AbdulKareem
A former president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami (rtd) has called for the enactment of Audit Act in Kwara and other states if there must be significant progress in the fight against corruption in the country.
Salami,who noted that the office of Attorney-General of the Federation and their states’ counterparts are key to the fight against corruption, called for the establishment of an audit act in federal and state audit laws to insulate Auditor-Generals and their staff from the executive and legislative arms of governments.
According to him, there is the need for the establishment of a commission with both the Accountant-General and Auditor-General as members and a retired Auditor-General or seasoned accountant from private sector as Chairman.
Salami spoke at the 2018 National Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Committee of Heads of Internal Audit Departments/Units in Nigerian University (CHAIDINU) held at the Kwara State University, Malete (KWASU) on Tuesday with the theme: ‘Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria’: The Role of Internal Auditors.
While canvassing for specialised training for auditors, the retired jurist said the urge for external auditors would be greatly minimised if there is an efficient and virile dedicated office of the Auditor-General.
He said his impression about the office of the Auditor-General had not been respectable which is traceable to the constitution, respective states and federal enactments and dearth of qualified personnel.
“This challenge is rooted in the lack of insulations of the offices from the executive arm of government it is established to audit.
“By the same token, the internal audit departments of various universities are not insulated from or dependent of the various Vice-Chancellor they are meant to audit,” he added.
In his address, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof AbdulRasheed Na’Alah said the theme of the conference was apt as internal auditors are crucial to the fight against corruption.
He noted that KWASU, has effectively deployed its resources to maintain a stable academic calendar without any subvention from government and challenged other institutions of higher learning in the country to judiciously allocate whatever resources they are getting from the government rather than embarking on incessant strikes.
Present at the four-day event, which will end today (Thursday) were; the Auditor-General of the Federation, Anthony Mkpe Ayine, Chairman of CHIADINU, Mallam Abdulraheem Olayiwola Qadir, among others.
