The Jigawa State House of Assembly has recommended the recovery of mismanaged public funds by the state government and its 27 LGAs between 2019 and 2024.

The resolutions followed the submission of a report by House Committee on Public Accounts at plenary in Dutse on Tuesday.

The document titled ‘Executive Summary of the House Committee on Public Accounts on Public Hearing Conducted on the Reports of the Auditor-General for State on the Audited Accounts of the Jigawa State Government and the Reports of the Auditor-General for Local Government Councils on the Audited Accounts of the 27 Local Government Councils, from 2019 and 2024’, was read and submitted to the assembly by Sani Isyaku-Abubakar, chairman of the committee.

Mr Isyaku-Abubakar said the committee, had earlier conducted a public hearing and comprehensive examination of the audited accounts of the Jigawa government and 27 councils for 2019 to 2024.

He added that the committee also reviewed annual audit reports submitted by the office of the auditor-general for the state and auditor-general for LGAs, examined financial statements, payment vouchers, contract records, and procurement documents of ministries, departments, agencies, and the 27 LGAs.

The chairman further stated that commissioners, permanent secretaries, accounting officers, directors of administration and finance, and other relevant officials were invited by the committee to respond to unresolved audit queries and audit observations of the MDAs.

According to him, council chairmen, directors of administration and general services, directors of planning, research and statistics, treasures and other relevant officer from each of 27 LGAs also appeared before the committee.

Mr Isyaku-Abubakar added that evidence and explanations were scrutinised by the committee, and where necessary, it conducted verification exercises and deliberations to determine the veracity of responses provided.

“The committee adopted a balanced approach by allowing the MDAs and local government councils to respond to audit observations while maintaining strict adherence to the principles of transparency, accountability and fiscal discipline,” Mr Isyaku-Abubakar said.

He highlighted instances of expenditures exceeding approved budgetary provisions, weakness in procurement processes and weaknesses in revenue collection as key findings of the committee on audited accounts of the state government.

The chairman added that key findings in the audited local government councils included documentation and record keeping discrepancies, irregular, fictitious and unauthorised payments, procurement and project execution issues, non-compliance with financial memoranda, as well as loss and destruction of records.

“The committee identified cases of overpayments, unaccounted cheques and unverifiable expenditures. In such cases, the committee recommended recovery of funds and disciplinary action against responsible officers,” the chairman stated.

He said the committee identified systemic issues contributing to financial irregularities.

These, he said are inadequate training and capacity building of accounting officers and audit personnel, weak enforcement of financial regulations and lack of deterrent sanctions, predominantly manual financial system prone to manipulation and loss, and poor handling and shortage of security/treasury documents.

“These weaknesses undermine fiscal discipline, public trust and effective service delivery,” he noted.

The chairman added that to remedy the situation, the committee recommended regular training and professional certification for accounting officers, internal auditors and treasury staff be institutionalised by government.

The committee also recommended that the office of the Auditor-General should be strengthened with adequate funding, staff and operational independence in accordance with the state audit law.

The committee also suggested that all unverifiable expenditures, overpayments and unaccounted funds be recovered, officers responsible for financial violations be disciplined in accordance with civil service rules and financial regulations to deter future misconduct, among others.

(NAN)