B y: Binta Jaiteh
The National Audit Office (NAO) will present a special audit report, concerning the Independent Electoral Commission(IEC) to the Parliament’s Finance and Public AccountsCommittee (FPAC) on 12 February 2025.
This will follow the conclusion of the police investigations.
The NAO conducted a comprehensive special audit of the IEC over the 2020 to 2023 electoral cycle.
The IEC management on Wednesday appeared before FPAC to deliver their annual activity and financial reports.
The Vice Chairperson of the IEC, Joseph Colley, informed the committee that the IEC was instructed to only present their annual report and was not made aware that the special audit report from the NAO was also expected for presentation.
“At this time, the audit report remains with the police for further investigations,” Mr. Colley stated.
FPAC member Alagie S. Darboe pointed out that the purposeof FPAC is not to undertake an investigation.
“However, we acknowledge that the audit report is currently subject to police investigation. We must clarify that we are obliged to refrain from acting on matters that are before the court. Since the issue is under police investigation and not yet before the court, we retain the authority to proceed,” added Darboe.
The FPAC chair indicated that the special audit report was intended to be presented today but was postponed due to miscommunication and the on-going status of the police investigation. Darboe announced that the committee intends to reschedule the meeting for February 12th to facilitate both the presentation of the commission’s annual reports and the NAO’s special audit report.
“Furthermore, we are in discussions with the NAO, regarding the possibility of proceeding with the pending normal audit for guidance purposes. Any decisions made in this regard will be communicated promptly,” FPAC chair assured.