YOLA – A lawmaker in Adamawa, Mr Wafarninyi Theman, has accused the state government of deliberately under funding the state’s Auditor General Office to frustrate it from functioning properly.
Theman (PDP-Hong), Chairman of the state House of Assembly Committee on Public Account, made the allegation at the Tuesday plenary of the House in Yola.
He made the allegation while interrogating the state Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Ibrahim Vokna, who was summoned to the plenary.
“You are deliberately under funding the office of the Auditor General such that your account cannot be audited.
“This House (assembly) has ceased to receive audited report of the state government for many years.
“In fact, the least recipient of allocations in this state is the Auditor General Office and followed by the House of Assembly.
“You have deprived the Auditor General Office to the point that it cannot even buy stationery”, Theman said.
He also alleged that the ministry was also killing the state planning commission.
The lawmaker described the state government’s response to a recent effort by the House to improve local revenue as “unbecoming and frustrating”.
Responding to the allegations, the state Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Ibrahim Vokna, said no department or agency was marginalised or depraved of funding by the state government.
“If you say the official in planning commission is not doing his job, it is not the responsibility of ministry of finance to make him do it.
“My ministry did not kill planning commission,” Vokna said.
The commissioner also insisted that government had been funding the Auditor General Office, while the Office of Accountant General had been presenting yearly financial reports to the auditor general as at when due.
“Even that (financial report) of 2013 financial year has been approved by the auditor general,” Vokna told the lawmakers. (NAN)
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