The Head of Service, Lagos State, Mrs. Olabowale Ademola, has said that auditors are partly responsible for the widespread corruption, which has placed Nigeria among the world’s most corrupt nations.
Ademola said this at the opening ceremony of the 6th Annual Auditors’ Retreat, where she spoke on the theme, “Corruption, Insecurity and National Development: The Role of Audit.”
According to her, most reported cases of fraud and scandal in the Nigerian public sector emphasised the failure of the internal audit function; of which auditors cannot absolve themselves of the blame.
She said, “We have failed the nation and this failure, to my mind, is directly responsible for the widespread insecurity that Nigeria is experiencing today.”
She said auditing represented the cornerstone of good public governance.
“Auditors help public sector organisations to achieve accountability and integrity, improve operations, and instill confidence among citizens and stakeholders by strengthening governance responsibilities of oversight, insight and foresight,” she noted.
Ademola said the failure of auditors to effectively play their roles must be urgently addressed, stressing that the time had come for auditors in the state public service to expand their horizon and think more radically in the discharge of their duties.
“The days of merely cross-checking vouchers against receipts and writing lame copy-and –paste reports are fading fast and would soon be over,” she said.
She urged auditors to ensure that transparency and accountability formed the bedrock of their jobs, adding that they needed to maintain independence and objectivity for subsequent audits.
Also, the Chairman, Public Accounts Committee of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Moshood Olanrewaju, said that, with the Lagos State Audit Law in place, the office had been given the necessary powers to effectively discharge its functions.
He said, “I have no doubt in my mind that the judicious application of this law will go a long way in strengthening the audit practice in the state and also serve as a model to other states in the federation.”
However, Olanrewaju commended the organisers of the retreat and urged them also to improve on it adding that more people needed to be trained, so as to bring back quality service.
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