Kwara PDP suffering from ‘crass ignorance’, APC reacts to party’s comment on audit report

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara has been called foolish for its remark regarding the forensic audit report that the state government recently received, according to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

This information was provided in a statement released in Ilorin by Alhaji Tajudeen Folaranmi-Aro, the state’s APC publicity secretary.
Recall that on September 1, the Kwara Government reported that a Forensic Audit study had found that between 2011 and 2019, N11.9 billion in public funds were embezzled from the state treasury without being connected to any legitimate projects.

Tajudeen called the PDP’s prior comment disappointing and said they couldn’t tell the difference between a forensic audit and a statutory audit.

Part of the statement reads: “The fact that the PDP could not distinguish between a statutory audit which the Auditor General carries out, and a forensic audit, on suspicion of any fraud across government agencies, testifies to why the state was in such a big mess under their regime.

“For example, the federal government has repeatedly commissioned forensic and process audits of many of its agencies, including the NNPC, NPA, NIMASA, etc.

“These audits were not necessarily carried out by the Office of Auditor General.

“We aver that the PDP is suffering from crass ignorance in saying that the forensic audit should have been carried out or commissioned by the Auditor General. Which law stated that? None.

“It is a claim built on pitiable ignorance by those who often beat their chest about being well-educated.”

Folaranmi-Aro noted the firm contracted to do the job has past and current engagements with the Federal Government, State Governments, private firms and international agencies.

“Certainly these bodies could not have missed out or overlooked the issues of the firm being up to date in what is required of it as a consultancy firm and a registered business.

“In fact, the Federal Bureau of Public Procurement has issued an IRR to this firm for 2022, meaning that they are fully compliant to carry out work even for the Federal Government.

The APC spokesperson said: “We urge the PDP to limit its ignorance to its circles of hangers-on, rather than advertise its incompetence and arrogance to the whole world.

“We find it rather shameful that the PDP could in fact hang its infantile claim on a firm purportedly having an ‘inactive’ status on a website whose currency or accuracy the CAC customers do not have power over.

“Any reasonable person ought to know what a firm’s bonafides with CAC and other statutory body entail.

“Finally, we advise the key characters in PDP to prepare themselves for the grave consequences of their sheer abuse of office, instead of fooling around with laughable claims and diversionary tactics.

“Furthermore, in the interest of the good people of Kwara State, we also advise PDP to address the substance of the report which reveals substantial fraud and misapplication of funds, rather than chase shadows.”