The Oyo State House of Assembly has commenced a legislative hearing to scrutinise the use of public funds by government agencies across the state through its Public Accounts Committee.
The opening session, which kicked off at the caucus room of the Assembly Complex on Monday, began with a probe of an agricultural firm in which the Auditor-General of the state had discovered discrepancies in the use of funds. The Ministry of Youth and Sports was also lined up for questioning, alongside other Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and lawmaker representing Ibadan North-East Constituency II, Honourable Olusola Owolabi, while speaking with newsmen, explained that the PAC is saddled with the responsibility of auditing state reports and scrutinising the Auditor-General’s reports of agencies, ministries, corporations, and institutions.
He added that the committee is also empowered by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to scrutinise and review audit queries raised in the Auditor-General’s reports for the state from the years 2020 to 2022, as well as reports concerning the 33 local governments for the years 2023 to 2024.
“In past years, before the state governor, Engineer ‘Seyi Makinde, came into power, there had been negligence in scrutinising Auditor-General’s reports. The auditors had been left alone; there should be checks and balances. Why we are doing this as a House is because we are saddled with that responsibility by the Constitution, and it is a means of checking and balancing what needs to be balanced in government,” he said.
Hon. Owolabi explained that the House of Assembly approves the budget for government agencies and corporations every year, followed by a finance bill, after which the Auditor-General visits different agencies and commissions to examine how the funds are being utilised.
“Some queries are raised, and when these queries are raised, some of our corporations in past years have not been responding to them. Some responded, but the answers they gave were not evident enough. That is why the Constitution saddled the House of Assembly with the responsibility of rechecking what the auditors have raised and the responses of our agencies, ministries, and corporations to these audit queries. That is why we have to invite all MDAs, all agencies, and all institutions to tell us their answers to the Auditor-General’s queries,” he said.
The chairman of the PAC noted that the objective of the exercise is accountability, as there are cases where there are no evident results for budgets approved and funds released. He stressed that it is imperative to carry out the probe because the funds belong to the people and are sourced from taxpayers’ money.
“Some commissions and corporations receive revenue. When they receive revenue, if it goes through the right channel to the government account, they have a statutory amount that they are expected to spend. What are they spending? What did they generate? How does it come back into the government coffers? We have a right as the House of Assembly to scrutinise the income and expenditure of all agencies and commissions for accountability and transparency purposes.”
He added that the Oyo State Government has an agency responsible for upholding the rule of law, as well as another agency known as OYACA, which is tasked with investigating corrupt officers and corporations, so that accountability in the management of Oyo State funds will be paramount. He stressed that culpable institutions will be handed over to these agencies so that they can provide detailed explanations and allow the law to take its course.
Honourable Owolabi noted that all MDAs will appear before the committee throughout the week, while Local Government Councils will be probed starting from the following week.
The meeting was attended by members of the committee, who are lawmakers of the Oyo State House of Assembly, including the Deputy Leader of the House, Hon. Olasunkanmi Samson, representing Egbeda Constituency; Hon. Babalola Abiodun, representing Ibadan North-East I Constituency; Hon. Gbenga Oyekola, representing Atiba Constituency; and Hon. Ogundele Johnson, representing Orire Constituency.
Also present were the Deputy Director of Legislative Matters, Mrs. Aderonke Ogundeji, representing the Clerk of the House, Mrs. Taiwo Adenike Muraina-Akinola; the Clerk of the Public Accounts Committee; and the Director of Legislative Matters, Mr. Adetunji Isiaka. Members of the team from the Office of the Auditor-General included Mr. Ogunjimi Ademola and Mr. Yusuf Saheed. Principal officers from the Tricop Development Unit, the Ministry of Youths and Sports, as well as members of the Oyo State Legislative Office, were also in attendance, among others.
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