Audit
By Douglas Okoro
Abakaliki, June 7, 2024 (NAN) A Public Financial Management Specialist, Mr Chibueze Nwonye, on Friday, stressed the need for effective audit findings, saying it was key to financial probity.
Nwonye stated this while delivering a lecture at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) STATE2STATE Activity workshop on accountability, transparency and effectiveness in Abakaliki, Ebonyi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was aimed at developing, launching and implementing plans to address priority audit findings in the state.
Nwonye, a financial expert, said that the audit findings on the Auditor-General’s Reports was a key interest to the State2State activities, especially in the education, health, water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.
He said that the findings and the recommendations made would be beneficial in the implementation of the current budget, which would lead to proper service delivery.
Speaking earlier, the state’s Auditor-General, Dr Samuel Udu, said that the importance of audit findings was to ensure accountability, probity and good governance.
Udu said that his office had done a lot to ensure the effectiveness of audit findings, having worked and handed over audit findings to the state House of Assembly through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He stated that the findings in the field had testified to the readiness of his office to ensure that the state government got the best accountability records.
The auditor-general thanked the State2State Activity for its tremendous help in preparing the audit manual which was a guide to audit preparation.
He, however, explained that audit findings were not for witch hunting, adding that they were rather meant to put audit records straight and use it to correct any observed fault in future auditing.
“Audit reports are not meant for witch-hunts but they are meant to put audit records straight,” Udu said.
A member of the state House of Assembly, Mr Godwin Abiri, appreciated the organisers for putting together the workshop, saying it was a right step in the right direction.
Abiri, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, also thanked State2State Activity for its involvements in improving government’s ability to plan and budget, monitor the budget and be accountable for every item budgeted.
NAN reports that the Communication Specialist of the State2State Activity, Mrs Nneka Egbuna, presented communication strategies for rolling out a plan to address the audit findings.
Egbuna, in her presentation, said that Ebonyi had benefited much from the interventions, particularly the Public Accounts Department (PAD). (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
ODO/WAS
Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq
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