Senate panel queries Auditor-General over staff salary provision

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, on Thursday, subjected the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF), Shaakaa Chira, to intense questioning over alleged inflation of the staff salary budget for 2025.

It expressed concern that the proposed budgetary allocation for salaries exceeded the number of employees in the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF), raising suspicions of budget padding.

The committee members discovered inconsistencies in the budget when the AuGF appeared before them to defend his office’s allocation in the 2025 Budget.

Budgetary provision for 247 staff generates controversy

During the session, Mr Chira informed the committee that his office had made a provision for 247 staffers in the 2025 fiscal plan.

He explained that a memo had been sent to the Head of Service of the Federation requesting approval for vacancies and that about 100 positions had been approved due to the economic situation.

“We made a budget, a provision of 247 staff, and a memo was written to the head of service, which has the authority of creating vacancies for any organisation.

“Some vacancies were approved, I think about 100 or so, based on the economic situation, and they were sent to the Federal Civil Service Commission,” he said.

However, when pressed for a definitive answer on how many positions had been approved, Mr Chira admitted that he had not been “properly communicated” on the exact number.

The Auditor-General’s response was strongly criticised because he was not factual in his presentation about the actual number of staff under his office and yet budgeted for them.

Ebonyi North Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi queried the AuGF for failing to provide clear and factual answers.

“No, please, Mr. Auditor General, you have to be serious. You are the chief executive of this institution. You wrote a memo, and you have a reply to that memo, and you are telling us that you are not sure of the contents of the memo you wrote.

“What does that suggest? Your budgetary provision is for 247 staff. You are telling us you are not sure, but you are making a budget for 247. Are you kidding us? Please, let’s be serious here,” he said.

Mr Nwebonyi, the Senate deputy chief whip, accused the AuGF of misleading the lawmakers.

“You cannot budget for what you don’t know. What if, at the end of the day, they approve 300 or 100 like you said earlier, but the federal government has released money for 247 additional staff? I mean, Mr Auditor-General, you are not serious. I don’t want to use very bad words, but you are not serious,” he added.

Zamfara North Senator Sahabi Ya’u also sought to clarify whether the AuGF had initiated the memo requesting additional staff or had inherited it from a previous administration.

“Auditor-General, what I want to understand from this is, did you initiate this memo or you inherited it? The memo requested is employment. Did you inherit it or you started the budget,” the senator asked.

On his part, Oyo South Senator Sarafadeen Ali asked the AuGF why his office was proposing a budget for 247 staff when only 100 had been approved.

“But even though you have learnt that only 100 have been approved out of 247, why are you proposing a budgetary allocation of 247?”

Closed-door session

Following the heated conversation, Mr Ali moved a motion for the committee to resolve the issue in a closed-door session.

Delta Central Senator Ede Dafinone seconded the motion.

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Chairman of the Committee, Aliu Wadada, thereafter directed committee members to dissolve into a closed-door to address the discrepancies.

Committee approves budget

After the closed-door session, which lasted for about 10 minutes, Mr Wadada, who represents Nasarawa West Senatorial District, announced that the committee members had resolved the grey areas in the budget.

The committee chairperson thereafter announced the approval of the AuGF budget.