The Auditor General for the Federation with technical assistance from AFROSAI - E concluded the second Advanced Module of the 3- module course in Performance Audit. The programme which commenced in May 2014had participants from the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the Gambia, Liberia and Uganda. The final module of the regional training which will run for two weeks comes up in June 2015 with the award of AFROSAI-E Diploma Certificates to participants who successfully complete the training and pilot test Audits.
The training is being facilitated by the Senior Manager for Performance Audit Mr Lars Florin and other AFROSAI-E certified Performance Auditors. The Office of the Auditor General for the Federation has twenty (20) participants and two trainers in persons of Patience Odusanya the Deputy Director Performance Audit and Apoti Salawu Assistant Chief Officer on the course.
Performance Audit is one of the imperatives of AFROSAI-E .It is also the product of the relentless effort of the Auditor General of Nigeria, Mr. Samuel T. Ukura (OFR) who is eager to see that SAI Nigeria is in compliance with International requirements that all SAI establishes a specialized performance audit division within the SAI big enough to sustain performance audit activities on a continuous basis and to develop a performance audit culture.
What is Performance Audit?
According to the fundamental principles of performance auditing as stated in International Standard for Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) 300,performance audit carried out by SAIs is an independent, objective and reliable examination of whether government undertakings, systems, operations, programmes, activities or organisations are operating in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness and whether there is room for improvement.
To put it simply, performance audit may be defined as examining whether government ministries are “doing the right thing” and doing this “in the right and least expensive way”.
Performance auditing seeks toprovide new information, analysis or insights and, where appropriate, recommendations forimprovement. Performance audits provide new information, knowledge or value by:
- providing new analytical insights (broader or deeper analysis or new perspectives);
- making existing information more accessible to various stakeholders;
- providing an independent and authoritative view or conclusion based on audit evidence;
- providing recommendations based on an analysis of audit findings.
Subject matters are not limited to specific programmes, entities or funds, but can include such as service delivery or the effects of regulations, thereby placing special focus on citizens, as well as issues cutting across many entities.
Objectives of Performance Audit
The main objective of performance audit is constructively to promote economical, effective and efficient governance. It also contributes to accountability and transparency.
Performance auditing promotes accountability by assisting those charged with governance andoversight responsibilities to improve performance. It does this by examining whether decisionsby the legislature or the executive are efficiently and effectively prepared and implemented, andwhether taxpayers or citizens have received value for money.
Performance auditing promotes transparency by affording Parliament, taxpayers and othersources of finance, those targeted by government policies and the media an insight into themanagement and outcomes of different government activities. It thereby contributes in a directway to providing useful information to the citizen, while also serving as a basis for learning and improvements.
It does not question the intentionsand decisions of the legislature, but examines whether there is any shortcomings in the laws and regulations or the manner in which they are implemented and whether such have prevented the specific objectives from being achieved.
The Auditor General is building on the machinery set in motiontwo years ago to enable Nigeria identify with the league of other progressive SAIs. His focus is to emphasise more on principles of transparency and accountability, governance and performance through quality performance audit reports.