By Our correspondent
There is tension at the Anambra State Secretariat over the transfer of a female auditor who queried the spending in the office of Anambra State Head of Service ( HOS).
According to our source, the auditor has been given a punitive transfer after she submitted her reports.
Our investigation revealed that the auditor ,one Ms. Chioma Ezenne, queried
the opaqueness in buying diesel for powering the State Secretariat and huge amount of money spent in clearing weeds/grasses at the secretariat.
The source maintained that not happy with the development and exposé, the HOS summoned the acting State Auditor-General, Mr. Okocha Akosa, dressed him down, and ordered him to issue a query to the auditor (Ms. Chioma Ezenne) and redeploy her.
“Our source said,” An Auditor from the Office of the State Auditor-General was posted to the Office of the Head of Service for a routine audit of the finances of the Office.
“Recently, she( auditor) submitted her report which the acting State Auditor-General issued for the attention and necessary action of the Head of Service.
“The report queried the opaqueness in buying diesel for powering the State Secretariat. Specifically, there were no independent records or officers to confirm what quantities of diesel were supplied and dates.
“The report also highlighted that a huge amount of money was spent in clearing weeds/grasses in the Secretariat without any particulars of the workers and amounts paid to each of them.
Investigation showed that recently the State Government withdrew the responsibility of buying diesel for use at the Secretariat from the Head of Service, a decision which might not be unconnected with the manner previous purchases were made.
A reliable source told our correspondent that the Office of the State Auditor-General is a creation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (section 125).
The source maintained that “The State Auditor-General is not answerable to the Head of Service. Indeed, section 125(6) specifies that in the exercise of his functions, the State Auditor-General “shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person.”
“By her action, the Head of Service suggests that she is above the law and that her actions are not to be questioned in the ways she has managed public trust/office.
Attempts to get the Head of Service for her reaction on the matter was not fruitful as our correspondent was told that she was not on seat when he( our correspondent) visited her office on Thursday.
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