Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, is back in familiar terrain but with different responsibilities.
Former Gombe governor and one-time Accountant-General of the Federation, Dankwambo, is experienced in financial oversight. He will now represent his Gombe constituency and, in addition, work to ensure that the Nigerian government is transparent and accountable.
Dankwambo, a retired AGF untainted by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) scrutiny, leads this committee, suggesting that diligence is further rewarded with greater responsibility. The new chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee is expected to revitalise the committee and make significant contributions this legislative session.
So far, the committee has supposedly lacked direction and been swayed by the NNPCL, whose uninspired investigation has come to a standstill.
Over the past three years, the Senate Committee, led until last month by its former chairman, Senator Aliyu Wadada delivered a lacklustre performance. Other than echoing the well-known allegation that NNPCL is corrupt, the Wadada committee failed to present any evidence to implicate the oil company.
A legislative committee’s success is often gauged by how many investigative reports it submits and the amount of money it recovers for the government treasury.
Senator Matthew Iroghide, who led the Public Accounts Committee from 2019 to 2023, reportedly submitted three investigative reports. Since taking over as chair in 2023, Wadada’s leadership has brought no accomplishments on either front.
A member mentioned that the committee Dankwambo took over last month has been the least productive in the current three-year legislative session, with no significant accomplishments to its name.
“The Senate Public Accounts Committee was dead under Aliyu Wadada. We hope Dankwambo will resuscitate it”, says another committee member.
This assessment of Wadada’s tenure highlights Dankwambo’s significant responsibility to boost morale among members and Secretariat staff, fostering a collaborative effort to revitalise the committee. This may have triggered Dankwambo’s meeting with heads of statutory institutions to inform them of the committee change and secure their cooperation, sources said.
Dankwambo’s meeting on Thursday with officials from the offices of the Accountant-General of the Federation and Auditor-General of the Federation followed prior meetings with his committee members and secretariat staff.
The agenda focuses on redirecting the committee from Aliyu Wadada’s ineffective leadership towards a pragmatic approach that ensures transparent, accountable governance and fiscal credibility by properly checking the executive branch.
InsideBusinessNG found that statutory institutions allegedly obstructed the committee by refusing to provide requested documentation and accountability.
The Accountant-General’s office has allegedly not released the audited financial accounts for the country, and the Auditor-General’s office is behind on its audit reports for federal ministries, departments, and agencies. We are approaching the middle of 2026, but the 2024 audit report is still not available.
Dankwambo’s tenure will face a crucial test on Wednesday when NNPCL leadership returns to address renewed inquiries. Following Wadada’s claim of a missing N210 trillion within the oil company, the new chairman is expected to provide substantiating evidence to Nigerians.
Dankwambo’s committee is expected to reopen two investigations allegedly abandoned during the Wadada era due to lack of political will. These are investigations into outstanding payments from oil companies, based on NEITI reports, and investigations into stamp duty collection involving banks.
The NEITI report, submitted to the National Assembly last year, was allegedly abandoned by the committee on Wadada’s orders after inviting implicated oil firms.
The committee sent letters to banks to investigate stamp duty collection, but, like the NEITI reports investigation, the inquiry stalled under Wadada.
Dankwambo served as Accountant-General of the Federation from April 20, 2005, to April 20, 2011, and as Governor of Gombe for two terms (2011-2019).
Now, as chairman of the Senate’s most important committee, will he make a positive impact that helps the committee regain its respect and avoid any stain from using legislative oversight as a means of extortion?
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