Binta Jaiteh
The National Audit Office (NAO) is conducting special audit exercise for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) over revenue generated during the Presidential Election, Parliamentary and Local government elections ran between 2020 to 2022.
Director of Audit at NAO, Sering Mass Jallow informed National Assembly’s committee on Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC), but due to the incompletion of NAO’s auditing IEC could not present their 2022 and 2023 reports.
“The special auditing process is ongoing” said Jallow
“We are hoping to draft the management letter today to IEC for their management’s response” he stated.
He explained that, during the period, they have been reached out by the external auditors who said that they wanted to start their auditing but NAO is on the ground.
He told the committee that, NAO informed the external auditors to proceed with their auditing even though they were still on the ground.
“We didn’t tell them to wait for us to complete our auditing before they can start,” he noted.
Jallow said, even though there could be inconveniences but it was not our decision for the external auditors to hold on their operation.
He pointed out that NAO would dispatch the management letter today and hopefully within two weeks, if the management responds early, by end of the month the final report will be released to the IEC.
Mass further informed the committee that auditing started since January 2024, which means at the time the 2020, 2021 and 2022 accounts would have been ready for audit even before the special audit begins.
“FPAC should ask for the cause of the delay submission of the draft financial statements to other auditors to carry out their auditing,” he suggested.
Member of the committee Kebba Lang Fofanapleaded with NAO to provide the final special audit report to the committee and whatever remedial actions and recommendations to be taken.
“Conducting two auditing concurrently but still at the end we are looking for the quality of the exercise and I know the exercise will be highly subjective,” he said.
“I want to remind the IEC that these are constitutional obligations that are long overdue” he remarked.
Chief Electoral Officer Sambujang Njie added NAO didn’t tell IEC to hold done but the management of IEC deemed it necessary not to bring the external auditors while NAO is also auditing.
Njie reiterated that both offices are reviewing the same documents adding that Audit is a must and both audits are necessary.
However, chairperson of the FPAC committee Allagie S Darboe urged IEC to submit their reports on or before 30th September for the final presentation of the reports.