Nigeria @66: Give Nigeria modern audit legal framework it requires, PLSI tells Tinubu

As Nigeria celebrates its 66th Independence anniversary, the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to act on the Federal Audit Service Bill and provide Nigeria with the modern audit legal framework it urgently requires.

The Executive Director of PLSI, Olusegun Elemo, made the call at the organisation’s 10th Anniversary press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja.

Elemo said the Federal Audit Service Law would strengthen Nigeria’s Supreme Audit Institution, while empowering the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees and other accountability institutions to safeguard public resources and improve service delivery to citizens.

The Executive Director said PLSI was concerned about the relationship between accountability and the everyday experiences of Nigerians.

According to him, citizens do not experience governance through audit reports, budget documents or policy statements alone.

He said they experience it through the quality of schools their children attend, the hospitals they rely on, the roads they travel, the water they have access to, the security they receive, the jobs and opportunities available to them, and the quality of public services delivered in their communities.

Elemo urged the Offices of the Auditor-General to ensure the timely release of funds through first-line charge mechanisms and inaugurate Audit Service Commissions or Boards to guarantee administrative independence.

“Encouragingly, the SAE Index 2025 shows that three out of 36 states produced standard performance audit reports on government programmes, projects or policies—an improvement from 2023, when no state conducted such audits.

“This is why PLSI believes Nigeria must move decisively from compliance to performance.

“Performance auditing must become the new frontier of accountability at national and subnational levels,” he said.

Elemo, however, said the pace remained slow, underscoring the need to scale up performance audits as a critical tool for assessing effectiveness, value for money and development impact.

He said only three subnational governments in Nigeria had so far conducted performance audits.

According to him, this represents a significant accountability gap in a country where state and local governments manage substantial public resources and deliver critical services to citizens.

He said sustaining this momentum would be key to translating transparency gains into meaningful citizen engagement and improved governance outcomes.

Elemo also noted progress in public financial transparency, saying the development reflected a growing commitment to making public financial information accessible to citizens.

PLSI called on all federal, state and local government audit institutions to continue conducting and publishing credible performance audits on public programmes, projects and policies.

“Citizens deserve to know not only whether public resources were properly spent, but whether they achieved the results for which they were allocated,” he said.

He called on the executive to mandate the timely publication of audit reports and Citizens’ Accountability Reports for both state and local government accounts.

He also urged State Audit Offices to transition from compliance-focused audits to routine performance and value-for-money audits across key sectors, including health, education, infrastructure, gender and climate.

“Public Accounts Committees should strengthen their oversight by ensuring timely review of audit reports and enforcing the implementation of audit recommendations—particularly as only three out of 36 states currently have effective Public Accounts Committees,” he said.

As the country moves towards the 2027 general elections, Elemo called for a deliberate shift in the way Nigerians engage with politics.

He said elections should not be reduced to personality, party loyalty, ethnicity, religion, popularity or short-term inducements.

He assured that PLSI would continue to support citizens in accessing information, interrogating candidates and their commitments, and making more informed electoral choices ahead of the 2027 elections.