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CSOs Urge Akpabio To Engage Tinubu Over Delay In Assenting To Federal Audit Service Bill

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations has urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the leadership of the National

Assembly to urgently engage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the delay in assenting to the Federal Audit Service Bill.
The group, facilitated by the Centre for Social Justice, CSJ, said the Bill — already passed by the National Assembly — is critical to strengthening fiscal discipline, reducing corruption, and aligning Nigeria’s audit framework with international standards.

In a letter delivered to the Senate President at the National Assembly Complex, the CSOs expressed concern that months after the Bill was transmitted to the President, no assent has been given and no reasons for withholding it have been communicated to the legislature.

The letter, signed by CSJ lead director, Eze Onyekpere, noted that the Federal Audit Service Bill seeks to repeal the outdated
Audit Ordinance of 1956, which the group said ceased to be part of Nigerian laws since the 1990 Revised Edi- tion and was not reproduced in the 2004 Laws of the Federation.

“Beyond constitutional provisions, there is no extant audit Act. Assuming without conceding that the Act of 1956 is still extant law, it is outdated, obsolete and needs to be replaced,” the coalition stated. The group added that within the last five years, all
36 states have reformed their audit laws in line with standards contained in the Federal Audit Service Bill, noting that the usual practice of the federal government leading has been reversed in this case.

The CSOs also reminded the 10th National Assembly that previous Presidents – Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari, withheld assent to similar versions of the Bill, and the National Assembly failed to pursue it further.
“This is not the first time that the Federal Audit Bill has been passed by the National Assembly but denied presidential assent.

The 10th National Assembly should therefore take steps to break the jinx and provide leadership for audit reforms,” they urged. The coalition argued that passing a bill through the National Assembly consumes huge national resources in time and money, warning that it is “not value for money for a bill to be passed by the National Assembly and not receive presidential assent.”

It asked the Senate leadership to engage the President to determine his reasons for withholding assent and work to address any
concerns. In the alternative, the CSOs said if the National Assembly is convinced the Bill is in the best interest of Nigeria, it should invoke Section 58(5) of the 1999 Constitution and override the President’s veto with a two-thirds majority in both chambers.

“We urge you to take urgent action to ensure that the Federal Audit Service Bill becomes an Act of the National Assembly,” the letter concluded. The Federal Audit Service Bill is designed to grant institutional independence to the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, expand the scope of audit, and strengthen enforcement mechanisms for public sector accountability.