By Paul Dasimeokuma
Nigeria runs a ₦68.32 trillion budget on an audit framework that belongs in a museum. The Audit Ordinance of 1956 remains the default reference for federal audit reports, yet it technically ceased to be Nigerian law in 1990 and does not appear in the 2004 Laws of the Federation. The result is a legal lacuna – a dangerous void where the nation’s financial watchdog is forced to bark using the authority of a law that has no place in a modern republic. As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu pursues the Renewed Hope agenda, the Federal Audit Service Bill, already passed by the National Assembly, is low-hanging fruit for structural reform that can no longer be ignored.
Right now, auditing in Nigeria ends where it should begin. The Auditor-General for the Federation produces an annual report, the Public Accounts Committees hold hearings, agencies are invited, recommendations are made, and then nothing changes. Audit recommendations are treated with levity by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and follow-ups are virtually non-existent despite clear Financial Regulations. So the same infractions appear decade after decade: unvouched expenditures, missing assets, unremitted revenues. We have a system that generates paperwork but not accountability.
The Federal Audit Service Bill breaks that cycle. It moves Nigeria from a department-based audit model to a modern Supreme Audit Institution structure in line with global best practice. By transforming the office into a Service and establishing a Federal Audit Board, the Bill secures the Auditor-General’s independence over recruitment, promotion and discipline. Today the AuGF relies on the Federal Civil Service Commission for staffing, which often creates a mismatch in specialized skills. An independent Board insulates the office from political interference and ensures it is staffed by professionals answerable only to the standards of their craft.
For the first time, the Bill gives the AuGF real enforcement power. It authorizes surcharges on public officers for expenditures not properly accounted for and allows the withholding of emoluments from anyone who ignores audit queries for 30 days. That closes the long-standing gap where findings were advisory and could be ignored without consequence. Under the new law, silence carries a direct financial penalty, providing the legal teeth needed to compel financial discipline across MDAs.
Beyond domestic accountability, the Bill matters for Nigeria’s international standing. Nigeria was removed from the FATF grey list in October 2025 – a hard-won win for our financial reputation. But that win must be protected. FATF explicitly monitors audit oversight of public funds, and running a public finance system on a 70-year-old framework that doesn’t exist in our current laws signals to global monitors that our anti-corruption reforms are superficial. The IMF made the same point in its June 2025 Article IV Consultation, calling for stronger expenditure management and transparent reporting. Assenting to this Bill is economic diplomacy. It tells the World Bank and foreign investors that Nigeria is serious about transparent implementation of its record-breaking budget, and it aligns the country with the Lima Declaration, which mandates that Supreme Audit Institutions must have functional independence from executive overreach.
The reform window is narrow. With the 2027 election cycle approaching, administrative bandwidth for structural changes will shrink, and transitioning from the 1956 framework and constituting the Federal Audit Board requires significant lead time. Assent in 2026 gives implementation a fighting chance to take root. President Tinubu has spoken repeatedly about the need for courage in governance, and signing the Federal Audit Service Bill is that kind of courage. Nigeria cannot build a 21st-century economy on 1950s paperwork. The time for the Audit Act is now.
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Paul Dasimeokuma – Centre for Social Justice
The views, opinions, and perspectives shared in this piece are solely those of the writer and do not reflect the official stance or position of Newsworth Media Company.
