SAOPAC 2025: Rep. Bamidele Salam Pushes For Autonomy of Supreme Audit Institutions At Lesotho Conference
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Representative Bamidele Salam, has called for greater financial and operational autonomy for Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) across Africa to strengthen accountability and transparency in governance.
Rep. Salam made the call while leading the Nigerian delegation to the 17th Annual Conference and 21st General Meeting of the Southern African Organisation of Public Accounts Committees (SAOPAC) held in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
In his address at the conference, the lawmaker emphasized that audit institutions must be insulated from political interference through independent funding frameworks if they are to effectively fulfill their constitutional mandates of combating corruption and curbing wasteful public expenditure.
“There is a need for our Supreme Audit Institutions to have an independent funding framework in order to make them perform optimally in carrying out their constitutional responsibilities of eliminating corruption and wastage in public expenditure,” he stated.
Salam noted that financial independence would empower audit offices to carry out objective assessments of government accounts, enhance fiscal discipline, and promote public confidence in governance processes.
The lawmaker described the Lesotho conference as an invaluable platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange among parliamentarians, auditors-general, and development partners across the continent.
“It has been a wonderful time sharing knowledge and experiences with colleagues from other African countries and development partners attending this conference,” he added.
The SAOPAC conference brings together Public Accounts Committees from Southern and other African countries to strengthen parliamentary oversight and promote best practices in public financial management.
