NIGERIAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLICACCOUNTS COMMITTEES (NAPAC)

GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE PUBLICACCOUNTS COMMITTEE

REPORT WRITING

COMMUNITY OF CLERKS

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Foreword

Public Accounts Committees (PACs) are viewed as the apex for financial scrutiny and accountability in any democratic government. PACs are important legislative oversight tool through which the legislature oversees the government's accounts and expenditure to ensure transparency, accountability and proper utilization of public funds. In Nigeria, Public Accounts Committees are established by the provisions of sections 85(5) and 125(5) of the 1999 constitution (as amended). The report of PACs is therefore the primary accountability product of the Committee.

To support the work of PACs in their efforts to ensure good governance and accountability in the management of public finance, the Senate and House of Representatives Public Accounts Committees facilitated the establishment of Nigerian Association of Public Accounts Committees (NAPAC). NAPAC is an umbrella organization of all the Public Accounts Committees of the two chambers of the National Assembly as well as the 36 State Assemblies of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As part of its mandate to develop standard procedures and processes to help PACs in Nigeria achieve their Constitutional mandate, NAPAC through its Community of Clerks (CoC) developed this very useful document - Guidelines for Effective Public Accounts Committee Report Writing.

The document is a product of several brainstorming sessions of the Working Group of the NAPAC CoC that was put together not only to distill prevailing practice but most importantly, identify good practices within the Community. The goal of the Guidelines therefore, is to ensure better and standardized report writing practice among the NAPAC members.

It is my pleasure to recommend these Guidelines to all Members of NAPAC and other Committees that are interested in writing clear, concise and goal-oriented Reports in the course of discharging their legislative and Constitutional duties.

Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, Ph.D, CON

National Chairman, NAPAC & Chairman, Senate Public Accounts Committee January, 2015

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P r e f a c e

In every functional democracy, doctrine of separation of power between the three Arms of government is paramount to achieving transparency. Since the emergence of democracy in 1999, conscientious efforts have been made to invigorate the mandate of the Legislature in accordance with Sections 88, 89 and especially Section 85 of the Nigerian Constitution as amended. Parliament remains the hub of democracy as it is through it that you have representation of people and accountability by government to the people. The means of determining the level of accountability is the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report produced by the PACs of the National Assembly and the various Houses of Assembly.

Proper analyses and critical examination of MDAs submissions on queries raised against financial activities in the Auditor-General Report as presented to the Public Accounts Committee of both Chambers and those of the 36 State Houses of Assembly remains a critical evaluation of accountability and transparency of the government. The work of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) without a proper report would only amount to a wink in the dark, unnoticed, and inconsequential. It is for this purpose that I whole-heartedly welcome the effort to produce a well-structured Public Accounts Committee report format that will not only meet best international practice but also take cognizance of our local challenges.

This Handbook is divided into four Chapters. Chapter One focuses on the purpose of the Guidelines, while Chapter Two deals with the characteristics of a good report including report content, structure and style of the report, stakeholders relationship and quality control process. Chapter Three outlines various types of PACs reports and finally, Chapter Four provides a practical guide on effective ways of writing a good PAC report.With the framework in the “Guidelines for Effective Public

Accounts Committee Report Writing” as produced by Nigerian Association of Public Accounts Committees (NAPAC), one can conclude safely that the challenges of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) notwithstanding, there can be no impeding our intentions and disposition to moving PAC ahead in reaching the goal of good governance.

Hon. Adeola Solomon Olamilekan National Vice-Chairman NAPAC & Chairman, House of RepresentativesPublic Accounts Committee

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Goodwill Message

The idea behind the publication of the handbook, Guidelines for Effective Public Accounts Committee Report Writing is a welcome development.

The Public Accounts Committee is a Committee of the Legislature established by Sections 85(5) and 125(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to help the Legislature achieve its mandate of ensuring transparency, accountability and good governance. Any effort designed to achieve this objective should be welcomed.

This handbook will help in bringing the importance of the duties of Public Accounts Committees to public life and provide a concise model for Public Accounts reporting in Nigeria.

It is in the light of the above that I commend the PAC Community of Clerks in Nigeria for this noble effort.

I therefore wish to recommend this handbook to Legislators, Staff, Researchers and the general public.

Alh. Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa OON, mni, fnim

Clerk to the National Assembly

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Acknowledgement

The publication of this Handbook received the support of the leadership of the Nigerian Association of Public Accounts Committee (NAPAC). We are grateful to Senator Ahmad I. Lawan, Ph.D, CON, the National Chairman of NAPAC and Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts for his encouragement, and for allowing us the services of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts' secretariat as well as writing the Forward for the Handbook.

We thank Hon. Adeola Solomon Olalekan, NAPAC Vice Chairman and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts for his advice and prefacing the Handbook.

The pillar behind the production of this handbook is the World Bank Group. The Bank hosted several meetings of the Zonal Coordinators of the Community of Clerks (CoC) leading to the development and production of the Handbook. We salute the guidance and the technical support of the World Bank team comprising of Mitchell O'Brien, Deji Olaore, Jens k. Kristensen, Roland Lomme and Chukwuemeka Ugochukwu. Thank you for your unflinching support and dedication to the works of Public Accounts Committees in Nigeria.

To our bosses, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa OON, mni, fnim, Ciroman Keffi, the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr. Benedict Efeturi and the Clerks of the two Chambers of the National Assembly as well as the 36 State Houses of Assembly, we thank you for granting us the permissions to attend the various sessions that culminated into the production of this handbook.

To our colleagues, Clerks of all PACs in Nigeria, we thank you for your comments and suggestions. While thanking everybody

who contributed to the success of this handbook, we accept responsibility for any error or omission in the text.

Ahmadu E. AbdullahiNational Coordinator, NAPAC CoC & Clerk, Senate PAC

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword..............................................................................iPreface.................................................................................iiiGoodwill Message......................................................................vAcknowledgment...........................................................vi

Chapter One..............................................................................21.0 Introduction................................................................................21.1 Purpose of the Guidelines...........................................................4

Chapter Two…...…………………....……………............…..62.0 Characteristics of a Good Report...............................................62.1 Report Content...........................................................................8 .2.2 Report Structure and Style........................................................102.3 Managing Stakeholder Relationships During Report Development................................................................11 ..2.4 Quality Control and the Review Processes.............................12

Chapter Three……....…………………................................143.0 Types of Public Accounts Committees Reports........................14

Chapter Four……………......................................................174.0 Public Accounts Report Structure…........................................174.1 Cover Page..............................................................................174.2 Table of Contents.....................................................................184.3 Committee Establishment/membership...................................194.4 Committee Jurisdiction, Powers, Functions and Scope..........20 4.5 Preface Page.............................................................................214.6 Introduction..............................................................................304.7 Work Methodologies................................................................32 4.8 Main Report.............................................................................324.9 Findings/observations..............................................................33 4.10 Recommendations....................................................................35 4.11 Annexes....................................................................................454.12 Report Style..............................................................................45

5.0 Who Signs The Report?............................................................44 6.0 How to Approach Dissenting /Minority Reports.......................48 7.0 Conclusion...............................................................................48 Annex A...................................................................................49 Annex B...................................................................................52 Annex C...................................................................................54

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CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Senate and House of Representative Public Accounts Committees facilitated the establishment of the Nigerian Association of Public Accounts Committees (NAPAC) as part of its determination to ensure good governance in public finance management. NAPAC is an umbrella organisation of all the Public Accounts Committees of the two chambers of the National Assembly and the 36 State Houses of Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

NAPAC aims to:·develop standard procedures and processes to achieve the

constitutional mandate of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) as enshrined in Sections 85 and 125 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(See Annex A for the full text of these Sections of the Act);

·provide an avenue for interaction, sharing experiences, ideas and information among members on issues relating to the functions of PACs;

·develop the individual capacity of members;·promote good governance in Nigeria and liaise with the

Offices of the Auditor-General for the Federation and the States to adopt international good practices in auditing and production of Audit Reports;

·collaborate with bodies such as anti-corruption agencies and civil society organisations in ensuring transparency, probity and accountability in the management of public funds of the nation;

·liaise with national, regional and international associations of PACs; and

·develop the capacity of PACs' staff and Secretariats.

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As part of its mandate to develop standard procedures and processes, NAPAC has an interest in the way PACs reports are drafted. After all, in order to carry out their roles effectively, PACs must be able to convey their findings to the House in an organised and clear manner. Since the vehicle used to do this is the report, it is crucial that it prove to be consistently crafted in such a way that it provides maximum impact. In order to help NAPAC achieve these objectives, the Association established NAPAC Community of Clerks (NAPAC CoC), consisting of Clerks of Public Account Committees of the two Chambers of the National Assembly and Public Accounts Committees of the 36 State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria. The NAPAC CoC seeks to identify good practice and strengthen the capacity of PAC Clerks to support the functions of the Committee. The NAPAC CoC created a Working Group and invited its members to a brainstorming session to distill prevailing practice and identify good practice within the NAPAC report writing.

The PAC report is an important document because it will be carefully scrutinized by departmental officials, policy communities, academics, and other interested parties. It is important that the report be written in such a way that technical criticisms do not detract from the Committee's substantive observations and recommendations.

PACs produce a range of different reporting products, from opinions on financial statements to complex performance audit reports and associated discussion papers, brochures, and media releases. Each of these products may vary in their structure, content, and writing process. Therefore, the suggestions for effective report writing will not necessarily be applicable to all reporting products. These guidelines will instead focus more on general report writing techniques and may not fully delve into

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aspects of specific reporting products or topics within PACs. They are only intended as a guide, to foster better report writing practice within PACs, and should be interpreted as such within the particular mandate and operational framework of each PAC. Furthermore, this Guideline is intended as a living document that is subject to change as practice evolves.

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE GUIDELINES

If the PAC starting point is the reports of the Auditor-General, then the end is drafting the inquiry report. This inquiry report will be the primary accountability product of the inquiry process as it provides a summary of the inquiry activity, including the inquiry conclusions, supporting evidence, accountability requirements, and recommendations for improvement. These matters need to be brought to the attention of stakeholders in a clear and persuasive way. After all, the persuasiveness of a report for initiating change or simply in conveying information to the reader often comes down to a well written and understandable report.

There are many stakeholders involved in the development of the report: the users of the report, such as members of the legislature; auditee representatives which can include the head of the agency being audited as well as managers and specialists responsible for functions within the organisation; other government institutions; the media and the public; and PAC itself. An effective PAC report will not only meet the different information requirements of all these stakeholders, but will ensure that government departments take inquiry outcomes seriously.

Although the presentation and contents of audit opinions on financial statements are largely established by auditing standards, the management letter on a financial audit and the report on a performance audit are much more varied in structure,

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content, and potential impact and can benefit from the utilisation of the guidelines. Performance audit reports in particular, require significant critical thinking on the part of the audit team.

PAC will have specific communication requirements for its products. An example of this is PAC's own annual report, where the PAC will want to fulfil accountability requirements. There will be press releases, where the Committee provides a brief summary of significant inquiry findings to the media.

Irrespective of the type of report that is being produced, the ultimate aim of this guideline is to produce an effective report: one that is read and that stimulates some sort of an ACTION as a result of being read.

During the drafting process many instruments may be used by PAC such as:

· Constitution;· Standing Orders;· House Rules;· Financial Regulations (Federal);· Financial Instruction (States);· Financial Memorandum (Local Government);· Fiscal Responsibility Act (Federal);· Fiscal Responsibility Law (States & Local

Government);· Public Procurement Act (Federal); and· Public Procurement Law (States & Local

Government).· Enabling Act of the MDAs and other existing

Extant Acts/regulations

This guideline is simply an additional tool to add to the vast body of works that will aid PAC in the drafting of a report.

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CHAPTER TWO

2.0 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD REPORT

Given the fundamental requirement for PACs to be independent of external influence, inquiry work should be carried out in a professional and unbiased manner, and this should be reflected in the report. The Clerks must have no interest in the outcome of the inquiry. They are professionals upon whom Members rely on for substantive and objective information. Therefore, inquiry reports should be balanced and constructive, conveying all the findings of the inquiry, both positive and negative.

The reputation of PACs rests to a large extent on the reliability of information and significance of matters covered in its reports. Therefore, report contents must be complete (covering all relevant matters and containing enough information to support conclusions), factual, arithmetically accurate, and objectively determined. The findings should be supported by logical and verifiable analysis. It is also important to identify in the report any limitations that have restricted the inquiry team in obtaining any necessary information. The findings and conclusions must be fully defensible when exposed to external scrutiny.

The inquiry fieldwork and the contents of the report should be strictly focused on the subject matter that is relevant to the inquiry. An inquiry should foster rational debate on contentious issues. Therefore, the report:

a) must comprise well developed inquiry conclusions that are presented in a sound and well-argued manner, in a neutral tone and avoiding emotive language;

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b) should be concise since short reports are easier to read than long reports. However, reports that do not include important information are open to being discredited for failing to draw on all the information when formulating recommendations. The report should be brief and complete. One way to shorten your reports is to omit unnecessary phrases such as “during the reporting period…” and repetitions of things included elsewhere in the report;

c) should be written in clear and concise language easily comprehended by a non-specialist. To readily convey its message, a report should be easy to read. Therefore, it should be written using clear language to avoid any ambiguity in interpretation or misrepresentation of the facts;

d) should avoid the passive voice. Positive language will help with clarity, while negative language may lead to confusion. For example, be careful not to use two or more negatives in one sentence, and express positive ideas in positive terms;

e) should have headings that are meaningful, a font that is easy to read, and have reasonable spacing between the sections of the report – this is sometimes referred to as the use of sufficient "white space"; and

f) should be structured to best meet the needs of the potential readership. Therefore, as part of the report writing process, the writer must constantly consider the users of the report when deciding on issues such as the report structure, whether or not to include material, and the emphasis to be placed on specific points being made.

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This is a primary consideration for report writing, no matter what type of report is being produced.

A report has a well-defined structure. It should begin with a specific title. The title should convey useful information about the content of the report. This is followed by the name of the Committee, along with the date when the report was finished. Each section should be numbered accordingly. A summary should be included, which briefly states the aim of the report, describes the methodology followed and groups the conclusions and recommendations of the investigation into categories. The summary is followed by the introduction which states the terms of reference. (See Section 7, Report Structure and Style, for further details)

Some report writing tips that will help to achieve these outcomes are discussed in subsection 7.12 Report Style.

2.1 REPORT CONTENT

PACs should ensure that inquiry reports are prepared by experienced teams with proper supervision, as this will provide a sound basis for producing the report. Report drafts should be peer reviewed within the PAC. Such examinations provide an objective view separate to that of the inquiry team and alternate perspectives on the conclusions reached. This process should foster debate and discussion on the interpretation of contentious issues throughout the inquiry to refine the conclusions.

A well planned inquiry focused on achievable objectives. It is impossible to write a good report if the underlying inquiry processes are flawed. The inquiry planning process also extends to the production of the report itself. Although individual team members will be responsible for writing up their fieldwork topics and for preparing particular parts of the report, the whole

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team should be involved in structuring the report. If individual team members understand the overall structure and thrust of the inquiry, they are more likely to write their segments of the report in a consistent manner and with a better "fit" into the report.

It is a good idea to plan the required contents and structure of the inquiry report as soon as the inquiry is under way. As information is collected, it can be recorded in a draft document or discussion paper that eventually can be incorporated into the final report. It is a lot easier and more accurate to write up sections of the inquiry work as you go along. Doing this will help the writer understand the links between different elements of the information collected, as well as the relative importance of the conclusions being drawn. It will also highlight areas where additional information needs to be collected. This ongoing production of a report in parallel with the inquiry process is sometimes referred to as "continuous report writing".

The planning phase of the inquiry should involve preparatory research on the issue or subject matter to develop the scope and to identify priority areas for inquiry fieldwork that will contribute most to the inquiry report. At this stage, the inquiry team (mostly Committee staff) will gather information, consult, and brainstorm ideas with peers. The impact of the inquiry report will be maximised if it is focused primarily on the significant issues raised during the inquiry. As part of the preparatory research on the inquiry, relevant information should be gathered from past inquiries, reviews, and publications on the topic.

As part of the planning process, ensure that the budget includes adequate resources and enough time to successfully write the report. Allocate appropriately skilled people and develop realistic timeframes to cover the required report writing processes, including the necessary iterations for redrafting the report, undertaking a quality-review process, and formal management clearance processes. If a report is rushed, it is likely

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that this will be reflected in its quality and readability. Equally, PACs should ensure that the inquiry deadlines are met once milestones have been set. Meeting the reporting timetable will ensure that information in the report is as current and up-to-date as possible. Timely publication of the report ensures that it will be of most use to readers.

For a summary of tips and tricks for effective report writing see Annex B.

2.2 REPORT STRUCTURE AND STYLE

The structure of the report is based on the type of report being written, the audit query, and its intended audience. Once this report "skeleton" has been developed, "flesh" may be added to the "bones" – that is, each of the areas may be filled in as information is gathered and analysed. The structure can be developed by answering questions such as:

·What is the most effective report structure to convey information about the topic?

·What is the nature of processes and systems involved in the topic?

·What data needs to be collected and how should it be presented?

·What charts and diagrams will be used to complement the report text?

Generally, a report of analytical nature (for example, a performance audit report, annual report, or some accounts and records reports) will start with an executive summary, an introductory section, and then the body of the report followed by appendices.

The report should be easy to read and professional in its

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appearance. What follows is a generic structure for reports. Using this structure will not only give your report the correct level of formality, it will also help to ensure you do not omit anything important. Each of the following sections of a report will be further elaborated:

·Cover page·Table of contents·Committee establishment/membership·Committee jurisdiction – powers, functions and scope of

the Committee·Preface page·Introduction·Work methodology·Main report·Findings /observations·Recommendations·Conclusion

o Signature·Annexes

2.3 MANAGING STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS DURING REPORT DEVELOPMENT

Inquiry reports must be able to meet the different information requirements of the stakeholders involved with the report. A good report is one that strives to meet the needs of all its stakeholders. In particular, the PACs have a responsibility to work closely with the Auditor-General's office to ensure transparency and accountability in the financial operations of government.

There are many stakeholders involved with the PAC report, they include:

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·Members of the legislature;·Auditor-General;·Accountant General; ·Auditee representatives which can include the head of the

agency being audited as well as accounting officers, managers and specialists within the organisation;

·Other government institutions; ·The media, the public, and Civil Society Organizations

(CSOs); and·PAC itself.

As part of the report writing process, the writer must constantly consider the users of the report when deciding on issues such as the report structure, whether or not to include material, and the emphasis to be placed on specific points being made. This is a primary consideration for report writing, no matter what type of report is being produced.

It could be argued that the inquiry report is the primary accountability product of the inquiry process as it provides a summary of the inquiry activity, including the inquiry conclusions, supporting evidence, accountability requirements, and recommendations for improvement. Therefore, it is essential that inquiry reports bring these matters to the attention of stakeholders in a clear and persuasive way. The persuasiveness of a report for initiating change or simply in conveying information to the reader often comes down to how well written and understandable the report is.

2.4 QUALITY CONTROL AND THE REVIEW PROCESSES

Always proof read the contents when writing a report. Proof reading should specifically check for spelling and grammatical

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errors in the text, typographical errors in tables and graphs, and omissions of headings or captions. Do not rely solely on “spell-check”. The report should also be reviewed from the perspective of its meaning and from the accuracy of its information.

In particular, the conclusions made in the report should be reviewed to ensure that they are sound and that the recommendations are workable and will solve the problems identified.

Here are some helpful tips to help you with the review process:

·Has the material been placed in the appropriate sections?·Has all the materials been checked for accuracy?·Are graphs and tables carefully labelled?·Is data in graphs or tables also explained in words and

analysed?·Does the discussion/conclusion show how the results

relate to objectives set out in introduction?·Has all irrelevant materials been removed?·Is it written throughout in appropriate style (e.g. no

colloquialisms or contractions, using an objective tone specific rather than vague)?

·Is it jargon-free and clearly written?·Has every idea taken from or inspired by someone else's

work been acknowledged with a reference?·Do the sentences make sense?·Is the structure logical and does it flows well?

The checklists provided in Annexes B and C will also help with the proof reading process.

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CHAPTER THREE

3.0 TYPES OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEES' REPORTS

PACs in Nigeria produce eight different types of reports which are submitted to the House at Plenary for consideration. However, the number of reports prepared by PACs and submitted to the House plenary vary at the National and State levels. The types of reports are:

3.1 Report on the Comments of the Auditor-General (A-G) on the Annual Audited Accounts of Parastatals

The A-G has no power to audit the accounts of Parastatals of government. Instead the Parastatals are required to have their accounts audited annually by an external audit firm and the audited accounts are submitted to the A-G for his comment. In accordance with Sections 85(3)(b) and 125(3)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the A-G's Comment is submitted to the legislature for PAC consideration. (See Annex A for the full text of these Sections of the Act).

3.2 Report on the Annual Report of the Auditor-General (A-G)on the Accounts of the Government

Sections 85(2)(5) and 125(2)(5)of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)mandates the A-G of the federation and states to audit the accounts of government's Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) annually and submit his/her report to the legislature for the consideration of the PACs. After consideration, PACs would submit a report to the House either at the National or State levels for consideration. (See

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Annex A for the full text of these Sections of the Act)

3.3 Report on the Federal Capital Territory Administration

This is the report of the Auditor-General on the Accounts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration. The National Assembly is the Parliament of the FCT. The A-G prepares the financial statements of the FCT which is forwarded to National Assembly for consideration.

3.4 The Accounts of Local Government Areas

This is the report of the Accounts of Local Government Areas in the state. There is an Auditor-General for Local Government in each of the states who audits the accounts of local governments in the states and submits the report to the State Houses of Assembly for consideration.

3.5 Report on Routine Status Inquiry

All PACs carry out a status inquiry into any aspect of the financial operations of MDAs and Parastatals randomly within the legislative year. A report is submitted after each inquiry.

3.6 Referral Report

Every legislature usually refers certain legislative measures such as consideration of bills, petitions, confirmation of appointments to PACs for further legislative action. A report on the referral is submitted to the House after completion of the exercise. It should be noted that no committee of the Nigerian legislature has a final say on any legislative matter referred to it for consideration.

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3.7 Sessional Report

At the end of each legislative year, every committee of the legislature submits a report of its activities for the year to the House. The report highlights successes and failures, challenges, and recommendations.

3.8 NEITI Report

This is the report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative submitted to the National Assembly in accordance with Section 4, 13 and 14 of

NEITI Act (2007)

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CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 PUBLIC ACCOUNTS REPORT STRUCTURE

4.1 COVER PAGE

A good report structure should contain a meaningful title to help the reader readily identify the report's content. The title should clearly state the purpose of the report.

It should contain the details of the entity preparing the report i.e. the name of the Committee.

The cover page should also contain the date of the presentation of the report to the Assembly. The date will also provide a time frame and context to the reader about the report findings.

Here is an example of a cover page of a PAC report of the Senate Public Accounts Committee:

SEVENTH SENATE(2011 – 2012 SESSION)

REPORT OF THE SENATE PUBLICACCOUNTS COMMITTEE

ON THE

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERALFOR THE FEDERATION ON THE ACCOUNTS OFTHE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA FOR THE YEAR

STENDED 31 DECEMBER, 2008

JANUARY, 2013

SECOND REPORT

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4.2 TABLE OF CONTENTS

A table of content (a list of report headings against page numbers) should be used if there are more than 10 pages. It should contain the list of the report's headings and annexes and should articulate the corresponding content.

Ensure that the correct page numbers are shown opposite the contents. You may also consider adding hyperlinks if the report is to be made available in an electronic format.

Other useful "reader aids" to use in a report are the inclusion of a contents page, a keyword index, and a glossary (an alphabetical list explaining terms and abbreviations used in the report).

Here is an example of a table of contents from the Report of The Senate Public Accounts Committee on The Annual Report of The Auditor-General for the Federation on The Accounts of The Federation of Nigeria for the Year Ended 31st December, 2008.

Table of Contents

PageTable of Contents........................................................................iPreface ......................................................................................iiList of Committee Members......................................................iiiNigerian Police Force .........................................................1-5Ministry of Defence (Headquarters) ....................................5-8Federal Ministry of Information and Communications.........8-11Federal Ministry of Interior ............................................11-14Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) ..................................14-16Supreme Court of Nigeria ..................................................16-17

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Ministry of Mines and Steel Development .........................17-19Police Service Commission (PSC) ....................................19-22Ministry of Petroleum Resources ......................................22-23Office of the Surveyor-Generalof the Federation......................24Federal Ministry of Transport .................................................25Federal Ministry of Aviation ............................................25-27Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria......27-28Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) ................28-29Federal Ministry of Water Resources ................................29-30Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).................30-32National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).........................32-33Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)..........................33-35Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)...........................................35-36Verbatim Report of Proceedings ............................................37

4.3 COMMITTEE ESTABLISMENT / MEMBERSHIP

The Committee membership should be included in the report since the stakeholders will be interested in knowing which Members of the Assembly were involved in the study.

This is an example from the Report of The Senate Public Accounts Committee on The Annual Report of The Auditor-General for the Federation on The Accounts of The Federation of Nigeria for the Year Ended 31st December, 2008.

MEMBERSHIP: 1. Senator Ahmad I. Lawan CON - Chairman 2. Senator Abdul Ningi Ahmed CON- Vice Chairman 3. Senator Ayo Akinyelure - Member 4. Senator Domingo Obende - Member5. Senator Umaru Dahiru OON - Member 6. Senator OlubunmiAyodeji Adetunmbi- Member 7. Senator Abdulmumin M. Hassan - Member

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8. Senator PaulinusIgwe Nwagu - Member9. Senator Barata Hassan Ahmed - Member10. Senator Solomon Ewuga- Member Ahmadu E. Abdullahi - Clerk

* Replaced Senator Yusuf Nagogo Musa as Senator and Member.

4.4 COMMITTEE JURISDICTION, POWERS, FUNCTIONS AND SCOPE

Powers are granted to Committees either through the Constitution, the Standing Orders or by Order of the Assembly. PACs may only act in conformity with the powers they have been given. They are bound by their orders of reference and may not undertake studies or make recommendations to the Assembly that go beyond the limits established by these orders.

The mandate sets out and explains the powers and conditions that govern PACs' deliberations. This should help the reader to clearly identify the inquiry objective, scope and to establish the purpose and boundaries of the inquiry.

The report should therefore clearly identify the authority under which the study was undertaken. This section of the report should upfront set the specific mandate that has empowered PACs to study and report on the subject.

For example the Committee's mandate is set out in:

· Sections 85 and 125 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)

THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTShas the honour to present its

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FOURTH REPORTPursuant to its mandate under Sections 85 and 125 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Committee has studied X;

· A Standing Order

THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTShas the honour to present its

FOURTH REPORTPursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(3)(g), the Committee has studied Chapter 2, Access to Online Services, of the Fall 2013 Report of the Auditor General

1of Canada and has agreed to report the following:

· An order of reference from the Assembly

The State Assembly was entrusted with the task of considering the reports. Accordingly, the Public Accounts Committee was requested by the House to Examine and submit report.

The Audited Accounts was therefore committed to the committee on Wednesday, 27th July, 2011 (Sha'aban, 1432AH) for examination. In the process of carrying out its legislative assignment the committee had duly examined the Auditor General's report on the Audited Accounts of the 44 (Forty four) Local Government

2Councils .

4.5 PREFACE PAGE

A preface is written by the author of the report. It is a small introduction to the report and will typically contain the essence of

1House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Fourth Report, 2nd Session, 42nd Parliament, presented to the House on July 16, 20142Report Of The Public Accounts Committee Kano State House Of Assembly On The Audited Accounts Of 44 (Forty Four) Local Government Councils For The Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2010

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the report. It should enable the reader to make an informed decision about whether they want to read the report or not. A good preface can be a good advertising campaign and can attract more readers. It should be written with the objective of making the reader want to read the entire report.

A good preface:

a) should provide a brief description of the purpose and scope without providing substantial details;

b) should briefly summarize the report and may provide an explanation of the choice of the topic;

c) should acknowledge the intended audience, illustrate how the subject has importance and state why the report would be of interest/use to them;

d) should contain some of the following in varying amounts of detail as is appropriate: main design point; essential difference from previous report; methodology; suggestions about how to read the report if there is a special structure; and some eye-catching results if any;

e) may acknowledge those who provided assistance to the report and

f) should use concise language to emphasize key points that will be discussed in greater detail in the body of the report.

This is an example from the Report of The Senate Public Accounts Committee on The Annual Report of The Auditor-General for the Federation on The Accounts of The Federation

23

of Nigeria for the Year Ended 31st December, 2008. You will note that the main point of the report is specified and the methodology is briefly explained. Some eye-catching recommendations were also supplied.

Preface

The Senate Public Accounts Committee sat from 30th November, 2011 to 8th October, 2012 and examined the Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the Accounts of the Government of the Federation for the year ended 31st December, 2008.

In the consideration of this Report, the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) adopted the following strategies:

(i) Called for written responses from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies queried;

(ii) Analyzed the responses;(iii) Invited for Public Hearing the Ministries, Departments

and Agencies whose responses were not satisfactory for their defence and explanation on the queries. The MDAs were represented by the Accounting Officers (Permanent Secretaries and the Chief Executive Officers) who led their officials;

(iv) Carried out On-The-Spot inspection of project sites; (v) Cleared queries that were satisfactorily explained and

certified by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, the author of the queries.

24

The Committee made recommendations on the following:

1. Nigeria Police Force2. Ministry of Defence (Headquarters)3. Federal Ministry of Information and

Communications4. Federal Ministry of Interior5. Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS)6. Supreme Court of Nigeria 7. Ministry of Mines and Steel Development8. Police Service Commission (PSC)9. Ministry of Petroleum Resources10. Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation11. Federal Ministry of Transport12. Federal Ministry of Aviation13. Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT),

Zaria14. Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA)15. Federal Ministry of Water Resources16. Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)17. National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)18. Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)19. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

In this example from the Third Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts of the Yukon Legislative

3Assembly Canada , in addition to providing the main point of the report and explanation of the methodology a short paragraph was added with thanks and acknowledgment to those who provided assistance.

Preface

“This report is based on public hearings held by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on February 8

3Standing Committee on Public Accounts of theYukon Legislative Assembly Canada, 3rd Report, 31st Legislature

25

and 9, 2005. These hearings were held to follow up to two reports of the Auditor General of Canada.

The first report, on the Energy Solutions Centre Inc. grew out of an audit of the corporation's 2003 financial statements conducted by the Auditor General. During the audit the Auditor General became aware of serious deficiencies in the overall management and control of the operations of the company. As a result the Auditor General expanded its audit to look at issues relating to corporate governance, oversight and control in the Energy Solutions Centre Inc., and its parent, the Yukon Development Corporation.

The second report is on the Mayo-Dawson Transmission System project. This audit was undertaken at the request of the Yukon Energy Corporation's board of directors. The project had been justified on the basis of cost-savings that would result from replacing diesel-generated power with hydro power to Dawson City customers. The project was originally planned to be completed before the end of 2002. That date was not met. Cost overruns have raised questions as to extent to which cost savings will be realized.

In questioning witnesses from the Yukon Development Corporation (YDC) the Committee was looking for reactions to the Auditor General's reports, further detail about the Energy Solutions Centre Inc. and the Mayo-Dawson Transmission System project, as well as an outline of steps YDC plans to take to prevent similar problems from occurring in the future. Appended to the

Hon. Solomon O. Adeola Chairman House of Reps. PAC

& National Vice-Chairman of NAPAC

Senator. Ahmad I. LawanChairman Senate PAC

& National Chairman of NAPAC

Hon. Gabriel Onyewife Secretary of NAPAC

Mr. Ahmadu E. Abdullahi Clerk Senate PAC &

National Coordinator NAPAC CoC

Mr. Titus S. Ajina Clerk House of Reps. PAC

26

Alh. Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa OON, mni, fnim.

Clerk to the National Assembly

A Cross Section of the high table at the NAPAC Inauguration

Another view of the high table at the NAPAC Inauguration

A view of members of NAPAC and other stakeholders at the Inauguration

PHOTOS FROM

27

NAPAC members alongside the World Bank Country Director, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly

NAPAC Community of Clerks Working Group alongside the National Chairman of NAPAC, Sen. Ahmad I. Lawan

NAPAC Community of Clerks

NAPAC EVENTS

28

Senator Ahmad I. Lawan leading discussions withmembers of NAPAC

The World Bank Country Director, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly addressingMembers of NAPAC at the Inauguration.

Hon. Solomon O. Adeola engaging with members of NAPAC during a session at the Inauguration

29

30

report are transcripts of the public hearings and written responses submitted by YDC to supplement answers given at the public hearings.

One Committee member, Pat Duncan, had been Premier and the Minister responsible for the Yukon Development Corporation and its subsidiaries during the time that some of the events examined in these reports took place. After discussion between Ms. Duncan and other Committee members it was agreed that Ms. Duncan would not participate in these hearings. While Ms. Duncan remains a member of this Committee, and was kept apprised of Committee proceedings, she did not participate in the Committee's preparation for the hearings, the hearings themselves or the drafting of this report.

The Committee would like to thank officials from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada for their assistance in preparing the Committee for the hearings. The Committee would also like to thank the witnesses who appeared before it for the documentary information they provided and for their candid and forthright responses during the public hearings.”

An alternative to a preface page is an executive summary. Such a summary provides the overall conclusions and important messages that the author wishes to convey to the reader up front.

4.6 INTRODUCTION

Generally, a report of an analytical nature (for example, a performance audit report, annual report, or some accounts and

31

records reports) will start with a preface, an introductory chapter, and then the body of the report followed by annexes.

The introduction is where the topic is introduced and provides general background information. The aims and objectives of the report should be explained in detail. Any problems or limitations in the scope of the report should be identified. The introductory chapter provides a background to the inquiry topic along with other matters such as the PACs mandate, inquiry objective, and methodology used.

These are some expressions commonly found in the introduction:

·what was investigated·the aim of·will outline·was to determine·determine the feasibility of·the purpose of·to investigate

The introduction should also give an explanation of procedures followed during the study. The past tense is used. Typical expressions found regarding the methodology include:

·was collected·with discussions·was used·was undertaken·findings·were surveyed·responses were identified·questionnaires·tabulated·noted evidence

32

4.7 WORK METHODOLOGY

State clearly how the inquiry was carried out. Explain why a particular method was used. If there were witnesses who were they? How many? How were they selected? Write this section concisely but thoroughly. Go through all of the Committee's work and include relevant work such as :

·advertised the inquiry in the media and on the Internet;·called for written submissions from interested

individuals and organizations;·gathered information by questionnaire; and·held hearings with witnesses.

4.8 MAIN REPORT

The body of the report contains a set of paragraphs that outline the major areas of the inquiry, evidence gathered, analysis undertaken, inquiry findings, and conclusions. This is the part of the report that pulls the whole piece together by showing how the findings relate to the purpose of the report.

Structure paragraphs in a logical manner to build the report. A clearly defined and logically sound structure will:

·reflect the inquiry objective;·develop supporting arguments that lead to the

conclusions; ·make the report easier to read; ·convey the information in a more persuasive and

understandable way; and·make use of headings and subheadings.

33

Paragraphs divide the report into logical segments that develop the overall argument of the report. Each paragraph generally contains only one main idea (known as paragraph unity) and this main idea should logically flow into the main idea of the next paragraph.

Paragraphs should be ordered in a logical sequence beginning with the most important material first. Within each paragraph you should use a structure that helps your reader. A paragraph should have the following structure:

·topic sentence (states main idea of the paragraph and make a link between paragraphs);

·explanation sentence (explains the topic sentence);·support sentence (gives evidence for the idea of the topic

sentence and includes date, examples, and citations); and·concluding sentence (optional final sentence).

Use bullet points to present a series of points in an easy-to-follow list.

4.9 FINDINGS / OBSERVATIONS

Findings are the facts that were discovered by using the methodology described in the introduction. For example, if briefs were requested the findings will be a summary of the various briefs. The findings are grouped, presented in tabular form, or reduced to statistic for easy understanding. An example of a finding is “Eight percent of presenters considered the X to be unsatisfactory because of Y.” Divide complex information logically into parts and number each part. The past tense is used in this section and the passive voice is common.

34

The supporting evidence collected by the team must be verifiable and strong enough to support the inquiry arguments. Evidence should be confirmed by cross-checking between different sources. Data validation and verification techniques should be used to test the accuracy of numerical data used in the report. Such techniques include the use of proofreading, checksums, parity checking, and double keying. Working papers should contain all relevant information relating to the inquiry findings and should be indexed to allow ready access to supporting documentation. On occasion, where the inquiry covers topics that require specialist knowledge, experts should be consulted to ensure the accuracy of the inquiry report.

When presenting the results of data analysis, it is not necessary to display the results as both graphs and tables of data. Some results are better presented as statistics (numbers, percentages, ratios), others are better in tables, and others still are clearer when they are presented visually on a graph. Again, think of your audience. Senior management often does not have the time to wade through extensive data sets and may prefer a few key statistics or a meaningful trend graph.

When writing up the results of an analysis, it is not always necessary to include all of the raw data in the report. Information should be included in the body of the report only if it is necessary to support the argument being made. If supporting data is considered useful, but too detailed for the body of the report, then place it in an annex (see Section 7.11 for details on annexes).

Tables and figures should have an informative title and number, axes and legends should be labelled, and symbols and units should be defined. The table or figure should also be referred to in the text in details to explain its context, purpose, and significance.

35

This section is sometimes called “Discussions and Conclusions”. Conclusions are statements of facts derived from the findings. Usually the present simple tense or the present perfect tense is used.

4.10 RECOMMENDATIONS

Even though this section of the report is towards the end, it is probably the most important part of the report. It calls stakeholders to action based on the evidence that has been gathered and analyzed in the report. It needs to be actionable, specific and make sense as a solution to the problems detailed in the report. Some readers will skip the report and turn directly to the recommendations section, which represents the essence of the report, so you need to take special care with clarity and correctness.

Review the body of the report for conclusions and fashion recommendations based on them. The recommendations section should flow logically and directly from information in the body. Limit the recommendations to the data presented and do not introduce new material.

This section is usually longer than the Conclusion, but shorter than the Findings. Like the other sections of the report recommendations should be clear, concise, and correct.

In terms of content, the recommendations should be specific, measurable, achievable, result-oriented and time bound

4(SMART) .

·Specific - state the method for implementing the recommendations. This should be well defined and clear to anyone that has a basic knowledge of the subject matter.

4Doran, G. T. (1981). "There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives". Management Review (AMA FORUM) 70 (11): 35–36.

36

·Measurable - although some things are difficult to measure, your recommendations would be more persuasive if they are measurable.

·Achievable - recommendations should not involve too little time, or too much money, labour, facilities or risk.

·Result-oriented - recommendations should provide good results for stakeholders.

·Time-bound - recommendations should set realistic deadlines for completion of suggestions. Include an action plan if this fits the scope of the report.

Specific

Recommendations should be numbered so that it is easy for readers to refer to them in messages (e.g. In recommendation 30-32 it is stated…). If action is imperative, list them in order of priority so that the stakeholders know which item needs attention first. If the recommendations are of equal importance, list them in the same order as they occur in the body of the report.

33.0 DECISION/RECOMMENDATIONS

30. The Committee recommends a complete overhaul of the accounting system of the Institute in order to strengthen the internal control mechanism thereby blocking all areas of leakages31. To achieve the recommendation above, the Institute should engage qualified professional accountants in its accounting department.32. Henceforth, Officials who deduct taxes due to Government but refuse to remit them to the appropriate authorities should be summarily dismissed from service and prosecuted. The report of

37

action taken against them should be reported back to 5the National Assembly .

Categorize the list, if it is long and items fall into logical groupings. Here is an example of a grouping.

· Local Legislative Councils must realize that they have special responsibilities for Financial, Project and Program matters, in particular by ensuring that proper values are obtained for money spent as approved in the annual budget of the Local Government through over sight functions;

· The Local Legislative Councils should produce and maintain proper records of their legislative proceedings and present such records to the Auditors on request for verification.

· The Local Legislative Councils should ensure efficient and effective monitoring of projects executed by the Local Governments; and

· The Local Government Executives should ensure compliance with the Local Council's genuine

6observations, recommendations and resolutions .

When possible write one-sentence recommendations, starting with actionable verbs and use concise language. As you provide details in the sentence, remind the reader what motivates the recommendations and remember that the body of the report has already provided this reasoning. It is more important to be concise and give the stakeholders clear, easy to understand actions.

5House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts: Report of Findings and Recommendations on the Examinations Conducted on Auditor General's Reports of the Accounts of 13 Ministries and Agencies of the Federal Government for 2003-2005 and Status Enquiry Reports on 5 Public Entities6Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Kano State House Of Assembly,on the Audited Accounts Of 44 (Forty Four) Local Government Councils for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2010

38

· The Local Government should consider the settlement of 7

the contractor his balance payment . [sic]

· The Committee recommends that the officer who took the Cash Advance should refund to the Treasury the unretired sum of N1,804,500.00, in compliance with Section 3124 of the Financial Regulations which states that:

“A public officer who fails to respond to a query issued to him within 21 days for non-retirement of advances or imprests shall be surcharged and the total amount

8involved recovered .”

The grammatical structure of each recommendation should be the same. A recommendation implies that there will be an action. So start each recommendation with an imperative word (instructional word): improve, do not, reduce:

· The Committee directed the Local Government to put more effort to emulate from the State Government towards generating more revenue. Refer to the detailed

9summary of revenue Under Collection .

Recommendations often use modal verbs such as “should” and “could”, followed by an infinitive verb. “Should” is for recommendations that you are sure about, but “could” is for ones that you are less sure about. Verbs for recommendations typically are: recommend, suggest and propose. It is wrong to use We

7Ibid 8Report of the Senate Public Accounts Committee on the Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the Accounts of the Federation of Nigeria for the Year Ended 31st December, 2008, January, 2013, Second Report9Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Kano State House Of Assembly,on the Audited

Accounts Of 44 (Forty Four) Local Government Councils for the Financial Year Ended 31st

December, 2010

39

recommend to change your procedures; use We recommend changing or We recommend that you change.

·The committee during the scrutinization and verification of the documentary evidences submitted discovered that purchases for the sum of N44,848,325.00 has not been supported with necessary verifiable documents or evidences in spite of the ample time given for the officials of the 44 Local Government Councils to rectify the anomaly identified during the scrutinization of the Domestic Audit Inspection Report.

Sequel to the foregoing therefore, the committee resolved that the payments of N44,848,325.00 should be recovered and returned to the Treasury Accounts of the affected Local Government

10Council .

Avoid conditional words such as maybe and perhaps.

Measurable

Although some things are difficult to measure, your recommendations would be more persuasive if they are measurable.

·Construction of hexagonal ring cells culvertContract for the construction of hexagonal 6 ring cells culverts at Dogon Dorawa was awarded to Garba Tanko & Sons at the contract sum of N4,863,274.59.

REMARKSThe project was ongoing at 50% level of work done and the contractor has received full payment of the total contract sum.

10Ibid

40

Recommendation/Resolution

The contractor handling the project should return to the site for speedy completion of the work within one month or refund the sum of N2,431,637.30 being 50%

11value of work not carried out at the project site .

Achievable

The recommendations should not involve too little time, or too much money, labour, facilities or risk.

·The Committee resolved to accept the response submitted by the Internal Auditors but at the same time directed all of them to draw up a detailed audit program and as well submit copy [sic] of their monthly, quarterly and yearly reports to the Chief Accounting Officers of the Local Governments, the Ministry for Local Government and Auditor-General

12on the true progress of their audit findings .

·The committee resolved that the Ministry for Local Governments should follow up the issues and instructed all the 44 Local Government Councils to without further delay imbibe and adopt the new Budget classification and chart of accounts coding system in use by both Federal and state

13Governments .

·The Local Legislative Councils should produce and

11Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Kano State House Of Assembly,on the Audited Accounts Of 44 (Forty Four) Local Government Councils for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2010 12Ibid13 Ibid

41

maintain proper records of their legislative proceedings and present such records to the Auditors

14on request for verification .

·With limited resources and increasing public demands, the Local Government should not depend solely on Federal Grants but must hasten to find new ways to generate the needed Local revenue to be able to provide the services the public require. The abundant and potential sources of revenue such as markets, motor park fees, cattle markets, slaughter houses and tenement rates among others as provided under fourth schedule of 1999 Constitution and schedule of the Local Government Law respectively should be explored by the Councils in order to boost

15their internally generated revenue base .

Result-oriented

The recommendations should provide good results for stakeholders. In the first example the stemming of loss of revenue would be a good result for the government. In the second the stakeholders AlasanShu'aibu and Sons would be the benefactors.· Committee's Observations:

The Committee frowned at the practice of granting advances for services in violation of extant regulations which invariably leads to loss of revenue for government.

14 Ibid15Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Kano State House Of Assembly,on the Audited Accounts of 44 (Forty Four) Local Government Councils for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2010

42

Committee's Recommendation:The Committee recommends that the officer(s) who approved the advances be sanctioned according to Rule 3112(i) of the Financial Regulations which states that:

A Public Officer who fails to respond to the Auditor-General's query satisfactorily within 21 days for failure to collect Government Revenue due shall be

16surcharged and be transferred to another schedule .

·ObservationsEfforts made to trace the problem proved abortive as all documents regarding the Feeder Road contract were with the state Anti-Corruption Commission 59

Recommendation/Resolutioni. The contractors handling the project should return to the

site within two weeks for continuation of works or the contract be revoked.

ii. The Local Government should consider giving the chance to AlasanShu'aibu and Sons to handle the whole project considering that the agreement was signed in his

17name and he has shown a sign of commitment to work .

· Committee's Observations:The Committee expressed surprise that the Ministry could not issue receipt for payments allegedly made for about nine years. The Committee faulted the Authority for not pursuing the receipt as there was no correspondence between it and the Ministry of

16Second Report of the Senate Public Accounts Committee on the Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the Accounts of the Government of the Federation for the Year Ended 31 December, 2008, dated January, 2013st 17Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Kano State House Of Assembly,on the Audited Accounts Of 44 (Forty Four) Local Government Councils for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2010

43

Finance on the issue. The Committee directed the Authority to take up the issue immediately.

Committee's Recommendation:The Committee recommends that the appropriate receipts should be issued by the Ministry of Finance and the particulars forwarded to the Auditor-General for the Federation for audit verification.

· The Ministry of Finance being the custodian of the Stabilization Funds Account should endeavour to periodically print out the statement of Account of each Local Government. This will enable each Local Government to reflect the correct end of the year

18balance during preparation of its annual accounts .

Time-bound

Recommendation should set realistic deadlines for completion of the suggestions, requests. If possible include a plan of action if this within the scope of the report.

·The Committee resolved that the Ministry for Local Governments should furnish the committee with the result obtained from the Ministry of Finance and office of the Accountant General respectively within one month from the date of presenting this report for

19further action .

·The contractor should return to the site and complete the project within two months. The local Government and the Ministry for Local Government

20should ensure compliance .

18Second Report of the Senate Public Accounts Committee on the Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on the Accounts of the Government of the Federation for the Year Ended 31st December, 2008, dated January, 201319Report of the Public Accounts Committee, Kano State House Of Assembly,on the Audited Accounts Of 44 (Forty Four) Local Government Councils for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 201020Ibid

44

ObservationsEfforts made to trace the problem proved abortive as all documents regarding the Feeder Road contract were with the state Anti-Corruption Commission Recommendation/Resolution

i. The contractors handling the project should return to the site within two weeks for continuation of works or the contract be revoked.

ii. The Local Government should consider giving the chance to Alasan Shu'aibu and Sons to handle the whole project considering that the agreement was signed in his name and he has shown a sign of commitment to work

· Recommendations: The Committee hereby recommends as follows:That the Commissioner for Health should ensure that within 60 days from the date of the adoption of this report by the House of Assembly, Dr. Joseph Bassey retrieves and return to the Collage Hospital, Akpet Central, the two (2) 500 litres capacity tanks given to MessrsAmama and Associates of No. 44 ItaOkon Street Calabar. Failing which the value of the cost of the two tanks should be established and deducted installmentally from Dr. Joseph Bassey's monthly salary and if retired from his monthly pension through the Public Funds and Property Recovery

21Court .

That the commissioner for Health should within 60 days from the date of the adoption inform the House of Assembly on action taken and extent of compliance.

21Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Audited Accounts of the Government of Cross River State for the Year Ended December 31, 2009

45

It should be noted that recommendations will also be made in the body of reports such as performance audits.

4.11 ANNEXES

Annexes include any additional information that may help the reader but is not essential to the report's main findings. They are normally used to store detail that may support the inquiry argument, but that would clog up the body of the report, for example, raw data supporting a piece of analysis. They should relate to the report's purpose and not just “tacked on”.

Label all annexes and refer to them where appropriate in the main text (e.g. “See Annex A for further details”).

A single annex should be titled ANNEX. Multiple annexes are titled ANNEX A, ANNEX B, etc. Annexes appear in the order that they are mentioned in the text of the report.

4.12 REPORT STYLE

An effective report is one that is cohesive and has a logical flow of ideas. The report should work as a unified whole. It should contain links between and within its sentences, paragraphs and sections.

The report should contain sufficient details to successfully argue the points being made, but avoid duplication and unnecessary details as this makes reading more difficult and can confuse the message being delivered. It must be complete, covering the planned areas and using relevant and accurate information.

The style of writing for an inquiry report should focus on clarity and simplicity – use plain language and simple grammatical

46

structures. For example, use: "since" rather than "due to the fact that"; "can" rather than "have the capacity to"; and "if" rather than "in the event that". The report should have a professional tone without using jargon or too many acronyms and it should not be unnecessarily formal.

Sentences should be structured logically, generally in the following order: the subject (somebody or something) does or is something (object or complement), followed by extra information, if any. One idea in a sentence is enough, two is plenty, and three may cause confusion. The readability of a report can be degraded by the use of excessively long sentences. Whenever possible, write short sentences and use bullet points to list a series of points. When a longer sentence is required to group related matters, use punctuation such as commas to break up the sentence into easily understood components. Use semicolons to separate phrases containing commas. .

Paragraphs should start with a topic sentence. A good topic sentence consists of a subject (which is the main idea or focus) and a controlling idea (which indicates how the paragraph will support and develop the subject). For example, "The inquiry had three main objectives".

Generally write in the past tense, not the present tense. You are describing an inquiry process that occurred in the past so you should note that you "analysed" and "concluded" during the inquiry.

Use of the active voice helps to make the language in the report more direct and easier to understand. For example, an active voice would say "The audit team examined the invoices", whereas a passive voice would say "The invoices were examined

47

by the audit team".

Parallel grammatical structure should be used to improve readability. By stating similar ideas in the same grammatical format, it is easier to understand that two or more ideas are of the same importance. An example of parallel structure would be, "Designing the inquiry plan was easy, but executing the audit was difficult". When constructing a list and using bullet points, be sure that the items listed are written in a parallel structure.

Capital letters should only be used sparingly as their overuse can make text harder to read. Capitals should be used for proper nouns such as "the Ministry of Finance", however "the ministry" would be lower case.

Quotations are generally placed on a separate line, indented, and italicised. For example: The minister stated:

'The ministry welcomes this performance audit report on government motor vehicles, noting that it will improve the effectiveness of fleet management.'

Numbers greater than nine are generally expressed in figures. If a number is used to begin a sentence then it should be expressed as a word. For example you would say, "Twenty invoices were selected" or "Inquiry selected a sample of 20 invoices".

Presentation and style are important. First impressions count, so consider these tips:

·use plenty of white space – use generous spacing between each elements;

·ensure that each section of the report stands out;·use numbered headings and subheadings;·use dots/numbers/letters to articulate each elements – be

consistent in the usage of such;·number each page;

48

·use consistent formatting;·use consistent language;·use short concise paragraphs; and·do a careful proof-reading – do not rely solely on spell

check.A checklist of elements of presentation and style is provided in ANNEX C.

5.0 WHO SIGNS THE REPORT?

Ideally, all PACs report should be signed by all Members and the Clerk of the Committee on the signature page. However, the signatures of the Chairman and Clerk should suffice if there are no dissenting opinions.

6.0 HOW TO APPROACH DISSENTING / MINORITY REPORTS

Opposition Members will attempt to have their opinions reflected in the majority report, but will often produce a dissenting report as well.

The Standing Rule of each House usually makes provision for this. A minority report is not accepted by the Senate Rules.

Minority opinion should be included in the main report and highlighted.

7.0 CONCLUSION

There is no universal structure or format prescribed for PACs reports. Therefore, these standard guidelines for report writing within NAPAC will provide Clerks with an invaluable resource while drafting reports. As previously stated, this guideline is only intended as a model,but it will help foster better report writing practices within PACs.

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ANNEX A

1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) – Sections 85 and 125

85. (1) There shall be an Auditor-General for the Federation who shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 86 of this Constitution.

(2) The public accounts of the Federation and of all offices and courts of the Federation shall be audited and reported on to the Auditor-General who shall submit his reports to the National Assembly; and for that purpose, the Auditor-General or any person authorised by him in that behalf shall have access to all the books, records, returns and other documents relating to those accounts.

(3) Nothing in subsection (2) of this section shall be construed as authorising the Auditor-General to audit the accounts of or appoint auditors for government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by an Act of the National Assembly, but the Auditor-General shall -

(a) provide such bodies with -

(i) a list of auditors qualified to be appointed by them as external auditors and from which the bodies shall appoint their external auditors, and

(ii) guidelines on the level of fees to be paid to external auditors; and

50

(b) comment on their annual accounts and auditor's reports thereon.

(4) The Auditor-General shall have power to conduct checks of all government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by an Act of the National Assembly.

(5) The Auditor-General shall, within ninety days of receipt of the Accountant-General's financial statement, submit his reports under this section to each House of the National Assembly and each House shall cause the reports to be considered by a committee of the House of the National Assembly responsible for public accounts.

(6) In the exercise of his functions under this Constitution, the Auditor-General shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person.

125. (1) There shall be an Auditor-General for each State who shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 126 of this Constitution.

(2) The public accounts of a State and of all offices and courts of the State shall be audited by the Auditor-General for the State who shall submit his reports to the House of Assembly of the State concerned, and for that purpose the Auditor-General or any person authorised by him in that behalf shall have access to all the books, records, returns and other documents relating to those accounts.

(3) Nothing in subsection (2) of this section shall be construed as authorising the Auditor-General to audit the

51

accounts of or appoint auditors for government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by Law by the Auditor-General shall -

(a) provide such bodies with - (i) a list of auditors qualified to be appointed by them as external auditors and from which the bodies shall appoint their external auditors, and

(ii) a guideline on the level of fees to be paid to external auditors; and

(b) comment on their annual accounts and auditor's report thereon.

(4) The Auditor-General for the State shall have power to conduct periodic checks of all government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by a law of the House of Assembly of the State.

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ANNEX B

Summary of tips and tricks for effective report writing –Report content

PACs inquiry reports should:

·meet stakeholder needs – always keep stakeholders in mind when writing the report;

·be complete, covering the planned areas and using relevant and accurate information;

·be tightly targeted on relevant subject matter;·contain soundly argued analysis and objectively

determined inquiry conclusions;·be balanced and constructive, conveying all findings,

both positive and negative;·contain recommendations that are practical in nature and

limited to the more important issues;·be well planned with achievable objectives;·be written in parallel with the inquiry process – known as

"continuous report writing";·have a realistic budget and reporting milestone that must

be met;·be well researched – the writer should consult and

brainstorm ideas with peers;·be focused primarily on the significant issues raised

during the inquiry;·be structured based on the type of report, the inquiry

topic, and its intended audience;·be developed in a logical way that builds up the reporting

picture that you wish to portray;·wherever possible, have the important issues towards the

front of a section; and·use supporting evidence that is verifiable and strong

enough to support the arguments.

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Summary of tips and tricks for effective report writing –Report style

PACs inquiry reports should:

·be written using clear and concise language to avoid any ambiguity;

·be written in a neutral tone, avoiding emotive language, and taking into account auditee comments;

·have a clear and simple style – using plain language and simple grammatical structures;

·avoid duplication and unnecessary detail as this makes reading harder;

·contain logically structured sentences, generally in the following order: the subject does or is something, followed by extra information, if any;

·be written with short sentences and use bullet points to list a series of points;

·have paragraphs starting with a topic sentence consisting of a subject and a controlling idea;

·generally be written in the past tense, not the present tense;

·mostly use the active voice, as it makes the language more direct and easier to understand;

·use parallel grammatical structure to improve readability;

·use capital letters only sparingly, as their overuse can make text harder to read;

·have quotations indented, italicised, and generally placed on a separate line;

·only include information in the body of the report necessary to support the argument – other supporting data can be placed in an annex; and

·always be proofread and, wherever possible, peer reviewed within the PAC.

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ANNEX C

Checklist for successful reports writing – Report structure

Cover pageðcontains a meaningful titleðis properly datedðhas the appropriate name of the entity who prepared the

report

Table of contentsðcreated if more than 10 pages ðtitle of headings and annexes are descriptive of the

contentðcorrect page number shown opposite the contents

List of abbreviations and/or glossaryðdeemed necessaryðin alphabetical order

Committee jurisdiction – powers, functions and scope of the committee

ðappropriate order of reference usedo Constitutiono Standing Ordero Special order

ðmandate clearly indicated

Preface pageðbrief description of the purpose and scopeðmain design pointðessential difference from previous reportðmethodologyðeye-catching results

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ðspecial structure explainedðthanks and acknowledgment

o proofread names attentively

Introductionðclearly identifies the inquiry objective and scopeðproblems or limitations are explainedðbackground of inquiry topic are statedðinquiry objective are statedðPAC mandate ðprocedures used are explained

Work methodologyðdetailed explanation of how the study was carried outðexplanation of why a particular method was usedðhow and what evidence was collectedðclearly identify the inquiry processesðclearly identify the analysis undertakenðwitnesses

o how manyo who were theyo how were they selectedo careful proofreading of names and titles

Findings – observationsðevidence collected verifiedðevidence strong enough to support the inquiry argumentsðdata validatedðdata verified

o proofreadingo checksumo parity checkingo double keying

ðworking papers indexed

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ðinformation included supports the arguments being madeðall other information considered useful placed in an

annexðtables and figures explained

o contexto purposeo significance

ðtables and figures verifiedo informative titleo number, axes and legends labelledo symbols and units defined

ðpresent simple tense or present perfect tense used

Main reportðparagraphoutline

o major areas of the inquiryo evidence gatheredo analysis undertakeno inquiry findingso conclusions

ðshowed how the findings relate to the purpose of the report

ðused headings and subheadings to create a clear structureðeach paragraph generally contains only one main ideaðparagraphs are ordered in a logical sequence beginning

with the most important material firstðparagraphs have the following structure

o topic sentence o explanation sentenceo support sentenceo concluding sentence

ðused bullet points to present a series of points in an easy-to-follow list

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Recommendationsðflow logically and directly from information in bodyðlimited to the data presented (no new material)ðare specific – stated the method for implementing ðare measurableðare achievableðare result-orientedðhave realistic deadlines for completionðare numbered

o by order of priority oro in same order as they occur in the report

ðare concise ðgrammatical structure of each recommendation is the

sameðused action verbsðstart recommendation with an imperative word'ðshould' used for recommendations that you are sure about'ðcould' used for recommendations that you are less sure

aboutðconditional words such as 'maybe' and 'perhaps' were

avoided

Annexesðcontain helpful additional information not essential to

reportðcontain detail that may support inquiry argument such as

raw dataðrelates to the report's purposeðproperly labelledðproofread against cross-reference in body of report

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Instruments used by PACðConstitutionðStanding OrdersðHouse RulesðFinancial Regulations (Federal)ðFinancial Instruction (States)ðFinancial Memorandum (Local Government)ðFiscal Responsibility Act (Federal)ðFiscal Responsibility Law (States & Local Government)ðPublic Procurement Act (Federal)ðPublic Procurement Law (States & Local Government)ðEnabling Act of the MDAs and other Extant

Acts/regulations

National Assembly Complex, Abuja