House PAC to hold Nat’l Conference on public accounts , fiscal governance

JONAS EZIEKE, Abuja

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives National Assembly has concluded plans to hold 5-day National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance (NCPAFG) scheduled to take place from Sunday, 6th to Thursday, 10th July 2025, at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotels, Abuja.

Chairman of the constitutional House Committee, Hon.Bamidele Salam, announced this during a Press Conference with other members of the House Committee on Tuesday at the National Assembly Abuja.

The high-level national conference, he said is convened as a key component of the 10th People’s House Legislative Agenda, which is firmly committed to strengthening good governance as a foundation for sustainable national development. Anchored on the theme “Fiscal Governance in Nigeria: Charting a New Course for Transparency and Sustainable Development,” the conference represents a bold, deliberate, and strategic initiative by the Public Accounts Committee and the House of Representatives at large to reposition Nigeria’s fiscal governance and public accounts management systems towards greater integrity, enhanced efficiency, and robust accountability.

It will serve as a veritable platform to mainstream the Renewed Hope Agenda into global fiscal governance transparency structures to firmly reestablish Nigeria’s leadership both regionally and at a continental level.

The House Committee helmsman stated that the House fact-finding committee is a crucial stakeholder charged with the constitutional mandate to oversight public financial management activities and review reports of audit and accounting institutions.

According to the lawmaker, Nigeria stands today at a critical juncture in its journey toward fiscal governance reforms. However, while some progress has been made over the years and particularly with the notable reforms under the current administration, entrenched systemic challenges remain.

These challenges include limited full-cycle audit implementation, high-level institutional financial leakages, a skewed and opaque public financial reporting system, and widespread non-enforcement of financial protocols across MDAs at all levels of government.

He revealed that form available records from 2020/2021 Auditor Generals reports reveal that over a quarter-trillion Naira in public expenditures remain unaccounted for, with high incidents of unauthorized virements, growing numbers of audit queries each fiscal year, and the reported cases of more than 60% of MDAs persistently failing to comply with financial regulations.

These trends, if left unchecked, will continue to erode public trust, undermine sustainable national development, and weaken our democratic institutions.

He posited that Nigeria, if it is to reap optimally the full benefits of the ongoing fiscal governance reforms initiated by the Tinubu-led administration, must seize the opportunity of the conference as a platform for high-level national policy dialogue for galvanization of stakeholders’ commitment.

The House Committee pointed out that it is imperative to leverage the opportunity of this unique conference to deepen collaboration among Public Accounts Committees, especially at the sub-national levels, audit institutions, regulatory bodies, and anti-corruption agencies.

The high-level engagement, which would serve as a prelude to the Annual Conference of the West African Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAPAC) later in the year following Nigeria’s emergence as the winner of the hosting rights for the 2025 edition, has been deliberately structured to deliver strong institutional values.