By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
Mr Aghughu Adolphus whose name was sent to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari for confirmation as Auditor-General of the Federation has scaled through the hurdle of screening successfully.
At the plenary session on Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Mr Aghughu Adolphus nomination as Auditor-General for the Federation.
The confirmation was consequent upon the presentation and consideration of a report of the Committee on Public Accounts by the Chairman, Sen. Urhoghide Mathew (PDP-Edo).
In his presentation, Urhoghide said the committee after the screening, found the nominee qualified to be appointed, given his experiences, pedigree and performance over the years at the Audit House.
He said that when the nominee appeared before the committee, he was clearly told that the Senate and the nation expect him to justify the confidence reposed in him.
He added that the screening of the nominee clearly showed that the nominee displayed competence in matters of audit and public finance.
Besides, his responses on issues of audit and public finance were satisfactory and beyond the expectations of the committee.
According to Urhoghide, the nominee has sufficient experience to occupy the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, if eventually confirmed by the Senate.
“Consequently, the committee, having been satisfied on his qualifications, performance and suitability of the nominee recommends him for confirmation by the Senate as Auditor-General for the Federation,” he said.
In his remarks after the confirmation by the Senate, the Senate President Ahmed Lawan said the National Assembly and the executive are to ensure that the Auditor-General remains truly autonomous and independent.
“We have achieved so much by giving the Auditor-General the financial autonomy which he requires, but I think we can do better as a government.
“The Audit House is still not a befitting headquarters for the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
“The Auditor-General needs office accommodation, like the Treasury House, like the EFCC office complex, where it can accommodate all its staff to carry out their auditing jobs.
“A situation where the audit staff are resident in the organisations where they should audit is unacceptable, so we need to do a lot more to support the Auditor-General for the Federation to be more effective and efficient.”
