By Ebuka Onyekwelu
The Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Hon. Noble Igwe, the House member representing Ogbaru 1 constituency, has stepped down the Ministry of Agriculture from participating in the verification organized by the Committee, to vet audited accounts of the Ministry, for 2023 fiscal year. Also stepped down is the Auditor General for Local Government.
Earlier, the Committee sent a notification letter and invitation for the exercise held at a conference room in the Assembly complex. The letter which demanded the audited accounts of all participating Ministries Departments and Agencies – MDAs, of the government, further directed that the documents should be sent ahead of their appearance before the committee. The letter specifically demanded that such documents be submitted on the 24th of May, 2024. This was to enable committee members to properly digest the documents before facing the MDAs. However, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Auditor General of Local Government did not comply with those directives, as their audited 2023 accounts were presented to the Assembly as they appeared for the exercise on Friday, May 31st. Upon inquiry by the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Noble Igwe, the Ministry of Agriculture could not offer any serious explanation as to why they failed to comply with the directive of the Committee. This was further exacerbated by the unexplainable absence of the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Foster Ihejiofor, from the meeting. The Committee thereto stepped down the ministry’s presentation and asked that they reappear on a new date that will be communicated to them.
Similarly, the Auditor General of Local Government also failed to offer a credible explanation for not complying with the Committee’s directive to submit their documents earlier. In consequence, they were also turned down and a new date for reappearance would be communicated to them, by the Committee.
-The West African Pilot News
