The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has faulted the level of funding proposed for the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF), warning that continued financial constraints on the country’s supreme audit institution could undermine anti-corruption efforts and weaken public accountability.
The concerns were raised on Wednesday by the committee during the consideration of the Auditor-General’s 2026 budget proposal at the National Assembly.
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The lawmakers examined the proposed allocation of ₦15.8 billion to the OAuGF in the 2026 fiscal year and noted that the figure represents just about 0.027 per cent of the ₦58.4 trillion federal government budget.
They described the allocation as inadequate when measured against the Office’s constitutional mandate to audit more than 1,000 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including government-funded institutions.
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The Chair of the Committee, Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun), said it would be unrealistic to expect the Auditor-General’s Office to effectively scrutinise a national budget of ₦58.4 trillion with what he termed limited financial support.
He revealed that funding challenges in previous years had already affected the AuoGF’s operations. According to him, only five out of roughly 100 Nigerian foreign missions were audited due to resource constraints.
In addition, just four per cent of the capital allocation approved for the Office in the 2025 fiscal year was released, further limiting its operational capacity.
A breakdown of the 2026 proposal shows ₦5.3 billion earmarked for personnel costs, ₦5.6 billion for overhead expenditure and ₦4.8 billion for capital projects.
He noted that inadequate and delayed release of funds, particularly for capital expenditure, would continue to hinder the Office’s ability to deploy modern audit tools, strengthen digital systems, and attract and retain skilled professionals.
He also referred to global standards set by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), which recommend that supreme audit institutions be granted sufficient, stable and independent funding to perform their duties without undue influence.
He emphasised that financial autonomy is critical to safeguarding the independence of audit institutions, adding that best practice requires that such bodies submit their budget proposals directly to the legislature or a designated parliamentary committee.
Mr Salam warned that weakening oversight institutions through poor funding could erode transparency in public financial management.
“This is associated with weak institutions, which have contributed to the corruption ravaging our country,” Mr Salam stated.
He said underfunded oversight bodies contribute to institutional weaknesses that allow corruption and financial mismanagement to persist.
He, therefore, called on the federal government and other relevant authorities to ensure adequate appropriation and full release of funds to the OAuGF, stressing that a strengthened audit institution is essential to preventing waste and promoting accountability in the management of public resources.
Presenting an overview of the 2025 budget performance, the Auditor-General, Shaakaa Chira, attributed operational setbacks to poor and delayed release of approved funds.
He explained that funding shortfalls created gaps in the Office’s ability to fully execute its statutory mandate and planned activities for the year.
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According to him, “only five of Nigeria’s foreign missions were audited in 2025 due to inadequate funding, despite the scale of overseas operations requiring scrutiny.”
He added that the Office is still owing rent in some foreign locations and is grappling with personnel shortages.
Mr Chira disclosed that although ₦653 million was appropriated for the audit of foreign missions in 2025, only ₦371 million was expended, leaving an outstanding balance of ₦282 million, representing 56 per cent of the total amount released.
He further revealed that while the Office initially proposed ₦3.4 billion for foreign missions audit in 2026, the Budget Office approved a ceiling of ₦633,849,824.
“We proposed a budget of N3.4 billion for audit of foreign missions, and the budget office gave us a ceiling of 633,849,824 for 2026,” he said.
He also informed the committee that only four per cent of the capital allocation approved for the Office in the 2025 fiscal year was released, a development he said significantly impaired its operational capacity, particularly in the areas of technology upgrade and audit expansion
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