Barbara Bako, Abuja.
The Economic and Fiscal Justice Coalition (EFJC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently assent to the Federal Audit Service Bill, describing the legislation as critical to strengthening fiscal discipline, improving public accountability and sustaining confidence in Nigeria’s economic reform programme.
The coalition made the appeal on Wednesday during a meeting with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, where it presented a position paper on building “an economy that works for every Nigerian.”
According to the coalition, the bill would modernise Nigeria’s public audit system by replacing the obsolete 1956 audit framework, strengthen the independence of the country’s audit institutions, expand audit powers and align Nigeria’s fiscal governance with international standards.
It argued that the legislation had become more urgent following the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2026 Article IV Consultation, which highlighted the need for stronger governance, transparent public expenditure management and anti-corruption reforms, while specifically referencing the Federal Audit Service Bill.
The coalition also warned that delaying the bill could undermine Nigeria’s recent removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List, noting that effective public audit systems remain an important component of global anti-money laundering and financial integrity assessments.
It further said the window for implementing the reform was narrowing ahead of the 2027 general elections, stressing that institutions required under the proposed law, including the Federal Audit Board, would require sufficient time to become operational.
Beyond audit reforms, the coalition urged the Federal Government to ensure that ongoing economic reforms translate into tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
While acknowledging that recent policy measures including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate liberalisation, tax reforms and efforts to improve fiscal discipline had begun to restore macroeconomic stability, it argued that many Nigerians continued to struggle with rising living costs, unemployment and declining purchasing power.
“The success of Nigeria’s economic reforms should ultimately be measured not only by stronger macroeconomic indicators but by whether they reduce poverty, create decent jobs, improve public services, strengthen citizens’ resilience and expand opportunities for all Nigerians,” the coalition said.
It maintained that poverty reduction, rather than macroeconomic stability alone, should become the primary measure of economic success, citing the National Bureau of Statistics’ multidimensional poverty figures and warning that widespread deprivation now posed both an economic and national security challenge.
The coalition called for greater investment in education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, social protection and youth employment, arguing that fiscal consolidation should create room for increased investment in people rather than simply reducing government spending.
On public debt, the group urged government to adopt a “Borrow Better” framework by limiting borrowing to productive investments, publishing cost-benefit analyses for major loans, prioritising concessional financing and ensuring greater transparency in debt management.
It also advocated stronger domestic revenue mobilisation through improved tax administration, closure of revenue leakages, wider use of digital technology, expansion of the tax base and improved customs administration instead of imposing additional tax burdens on compliant taxpayers.
The coalition further recommended improved fiscal transparency through timely publication of budget implementation reports, open access to debt information, public disclosure of subsidy savings and wider deployment of digital tools to monitor government expenditure.
It also urged the government to reduce the cost of governance by eliminating duplicated a
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