The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has stopped the budget defence session of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF) due to alleged irregularities and lack of proper preparation.

The Auditor-General, Shaakaa Chira, risks having no funding approved for the 2025 budget as the deadline for all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to defend their budgets is Wednesday. After this deadline, Senate committees will submit their reports to the appropriations committee for review.

During the meeting on Tuesday, members of the committee criticized the Auditor-General for failing to give clear explanations about the 2024 budget performance.

Ahmed Wadada, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, expressed his disappointment, stating, “The Auditor-General is expected to audit other agencies, but his own office is not meeting the standard. He has until the deadline to return prepared.”

Another committee member, Osita Isunazo, pointed out discrepancies in the documents provided, saying, “The inability to give detailed explanations for 2024 spending makes it impossible to proceed.”

Senator Efe Dafinone of Delta Central raised concerns about rushed and last-minute spending, noting that 65-70% of the OAGF’s 2024 budget was used in the final months of the year. “This kind of spending raises serious questions,” he said.

The committee also flagged issues like duplicated information in the documents presented. Due to these concerns, the session was suspended, and the Auditor-General was asked to return on Wednesday with accurate and complete documents.