October 13, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives has passed the Nigeria Audit Service Bill which repealed the Audit Ordinance of 1956.
Nigeria before now, was the only country in Africa out of the 54 countries without audit law.
Titled “An act to repeal the Audit Ordinance of 1956, and enact the Federal Audit Service Act, 2023 to establish the Federal Audit Service, provide additional powers and functions of the Auditor-General for the Federation, establish the Federal Audit Board; and for related matters”, the new bill provides additional powers and functions to the Auditor-General of the Federation.
While presenting the bill for deliberation, House leader, Julius Ihonvbere, said the bill was part of efforts to erase colonial inheritance and make it in compliance with relevant sections of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Section 4 (a) in the new law provides that a chairman of the Board shall have at least 15 years cognate in accounting and auditing either in the public or private practice.
Under Section 4 (2) of the law, “The Auditor-General for the Federation shall be the chief executive officer; six members representing each of the geo-political zones; representative from the Head of Service of the Federation, Federal Civil Service Commission not below the rank of a Director; two persons who retired from the Service; one person to represent the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria as well as one person to represent the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria while the Legal Adviser of the Service shall be the Secretary.”
Section 6 (a) proposed that the members of the board serve for a term of four years and may be re-appointed for another term of four years and no more was upheld.
In section 22, the years of the occupant of such office were stated to remain in consonance with what obtains in the Civil Service Rule in which the retirement age is put at 60 years and 35 years of service depending on which comes earlier.
