Nigeria: National Assembly Public Accounts Committees

The constitutional cycle

The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation says its existence, powers, duties and responsibilities are set out in sections 85, 86 and 87 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended ¹. Section 85(2) says the Auditor-General "shall submit his report to the National Assembly" ¹.

The Office says that under section 85(5) the Auditor-General must submit reports to each House within 90 days of receipt of the Accountant-General's financial statement, and that "each House shall cause the Report to be considered by a Committee" ¹. It says section 85(6) provides that the Auditor-General "shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person" ¹.

A Voice of Nigeria report by Gloria Essien on 17 February 2026 cited section 85(6) as the provision on submitting audit reports to the National Assembly through the committee ³. The Office's own page places the submission rule in section 85(5) ¹. This page follows the Office's wording.

The committees

The National Assembly website lists Senate committees and House committees as separate pages ⁷. Both Houses consider the Auditor-General's report through a committee responsible for public accounts ^1,2.

The Office says these committees review whether public money was spent for the approved purpose. It says they hold public sittings to review audit findings, usually attended by the Auditor-General's team and the accounting officer of the audited body ¹.

On 18 August 2021 the Office reported that Auditor-General Aghughu Adolphus A. submitted the annual report on the Federal Government's consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 to the Clerk of the National Assembly ².

Timeliness of audit reports

As reported by James Kwen of Leadership on 3 February 2026, the House Public Accounts Committee chaired by Hon. Bamidele Salam said the Office of the Auditor-General had lamented delays in the submission of audit reports. The chairman said progress was "still not good enough" in 2026 ⁴. The report said reports for 2019 through 2022 had been submitted, and the committee was pressing for 2023, 2024 and 2025 ⁴.

As reported by Gloria Essien of Voice of Nigeria on 17 February 2026, the committee asked the Office of the Accountant-General and the Auditor-General for consolidated financial statements and audited accounts for 2023, 2024 and 2025 before October 2026 ³. The report said the Auditor-General stated that the lack of a timeline for submitting the financial statement under the Constitution had hindered timely audits ³.

How government responses are published

This site has not found a published series of executive replies to Public Accounts Committee reports, comparable to a Treasury Minute, as of 22 October 2026. This site has not confirmed a fixed deadline for an executive reply in the Constitution or the Standing Orders.

Decisions of each House on committee reports are recorded in Votes and Proceedings, which the website describes as official records of decisions, resolutions and proceedings taken during plenary sittings ⁶.

Where to find documents

• Hansard, described as official records of parliamentary debates by date, chamber and session ⁵.
• Votes and Proceedings for plenary decisions ⁶.
• Senate and House committee lists, linked from the National Assembly home page ⁷.
• Auditor-General reports and releases on the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation website ^1,2.

Records on this site

This site's Nigeria record will cover House Public Accounts Committee recommendations. Each record follows the method in How to track a recommendation. The Ghana page covers a neighbouring parliament with a similar committee.