By: Amaka madu.
The Accountant General of Anambra State Government.Dr Sir Chukwudi Okoli has explained that it’s no longer business as usual in all the MDA,s in the state when it comes to issue of spending Government money because Government money is being used for the good people of the State.
Dr Okoli emphasised this in his office during an advocacy visit by Coalition of CSOs/media on Audit and Anti-Corruption led by Ugochi Freeman.Earlier in her brief about the Advocacy..Mrs Ugochi Freeman explained that the group is working to promote accountability and Transparency particularly in fiscal Transparency to ensure value for money , particurlarly in ensuring that public resources are managed efficiently.She enumerated key points for the advocacy as Speedy passage of Anambra State Audit Bill, Effective Utilization and Retirement of Releases, Compliance with State House of Assembly Resolution on the Auditor General’s report, Effective implementation of relevant Anti-Corruption laws, Support for ANSAC Committees at various MDAs, Establishment of Anambra State Anti-Corruption Commission, Proactive Disclosure of Fund Release, amongst others.Responding ,Dr Okoli advocated for much younger people in the group because they are the one mostly at the receiving end agitating because of the way the leaders are handling their funds,siting accountability and Transparency as the key words in Government affairs.. He Commended the group and promised to support them in their quest to ensure Accountability and Transparency in Government fund’s because according to him it’s one of the ways to know Government that is willing to serve the people referring To Governor Chukwuma Soludo as A Governor that is always willing to always use public funds judiciously knowing the importance of Transparency.
On the issue of passage of the Anambra State Audit Bill..He explained that it is yet to be passed as leakages are bring put in place for the speedy passage of the bill…Also advised the group to take their message to other MDAs So that the usage of fund’s will be adequately discussed for effective Retirement…
In her response The team leader Mrs Ugochi Freeman Expressed the willingness of the group in visiting the MDAs as advised by Dr Okoli as they are bent on ensuring that public funds are utilized and accounted for properly.. Also advised the Accountant General to adopt real time disclosure of fund releases of capital projects as done by office of the Accountant General of the federation through the open Treasury portal to help independent monitoring and tracking of government projects across communities as this will reduce the rate of abandoned projects and curb corruption. She thanked him for his warm reception admonishing him to continue in his good works.