When President Duma Boko received the forensic audit report on April 30, the message was unmistakable. Those responsible for looting public resources would face the consequences. Six months later, and with the findings already in the public domain since May, we are still waiting to see that promise translated into action. The State of the Nation Address has offered little (if any) reassurance. Instead, it sounded remarkably like the statements made when the report was first unveiled. Government, Boko told Parliament, had adopted all the recommendations, was implementing reforms and was establishing a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions would also be strengthened. But where is the progress?
Even more troubling is that these are essentially the same assurances we heard in May. The promise was that the findings would be referred to relevant authorities, investigated and, where warranted, prosecuted. But six months later, the public is again being asked to wait.
The audit identified suspected corruption, fraud, embezzlement and financial mismanagement across 30 institutions, with potential losses estimated at P33 billion. Eighty matters were flagged for immediate criminal or disciplinary investigation. Yet six months on, the President’s address offered no accounting of how many investigations have commenced, how many cases have reached DPP, whether anyone has been charged or whether any public money has been recovered.
Even more troubling is that these are essentially the same assurances we heard in May. The promise was that the findings would be referred to relevant authorities, investigated and, where warranted, prosecuted. But six months later, the public is again being asked to wait.
Nobody expects complex forensic investigations to conclude overnight. But there is a difference between allowing investigations to run their course and failing to demonstrate that anything meaningful is happening. Boko commissioned the audit in the name of accountability. He must now demonstrate that accountability means more than publishing a report and repeatedly announcing intentions. Otherwise, the forensic audit will remain an expensive exercise in documenting corruption without confronting it.
