The Auditor-General for the Federation and Chairperson of the African Union Board of External Auditors, Mr. Adolphus Aghughu, on Thursday advocated the need for African Union Commission (AUC) authorities to promote probity and accountability in the African Union’s public finance system to aid the achievement of its mandate.
Aghughu, gave the charge during the virtual meeting of the African Union Board of External Auditors held to review and sign off on the Audited Reports of the AU Commission and its organs for the 2020 financial year.
The Nigeria’s Auditor General in his welcome address during the meeting which he presided over declared that Africans deserved so much from the African Union and that ensure its success, there must be public probity and accountability in its operations which will enable the Union reach its potentials and by extension, achieve the aspirations of the founding fathers.
He commended the efforts of the audit teams that carried out the audit of the 2020 financial statements of the AUC and six organs of the AU. The organs include the African Union Advisory Board Corruption (AU ABC); African Court Human and People’s Right (AfCHPR); New Partnership for Africa’s development (NEPAD); African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM); Pan-African Parliament (PAP); and African Commission Human and People’s Right (ACHPR)
During the meeting, the 11-member Board, comprising Auditors-General from 11 countries reviewed the Reports presented by the Chairperson, Audit Operations Committee, and subsequently unanimously adopted and signed the reports.
Aghughu also welcomed the Deputy Chairperson (DCP) of the AUC, H.E. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, who paid a courtesy visit to the meeting, and tasked her on the need to ensure that the audit recommendations are properly implemented.
In her remarks, the DCP commended the efforts of the Audit Team members and expressed appreciation to the Board on the completion of the audit, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his closing remarks, the Auditor-General for the Federation also lauded the BoEA Secretariat as well as the Board members for providing adequate logistics for the audit exercise for taking time to attend the programme respectively.
