The 1999 Constitution

Section 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.

(This section creates the office of the Auditor General of a state and how a person shall be appointed in accordance with section 126 of the constitution.)

Section 125 (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 authorized by him in that behalf shall have access to all the books, records, returns and other documents relating to those accounts.

(The Auditor General of a state is responsible for auditing the public accounts of a State and after auditing the State’s public accounts, s/he shall submit their report to the House of Assembly of the State concerned. Due to his responsibility, the Auditor General or anyone that he has given the authority to act on his behalf shall have access to all the books, records, returns and other documents relating to those state public accounts.)

Section 125 (3)

Nothing in subsection (2) of this section shall be construed as authorizing 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 Law but the Auditor-General shall –

(Despite the Auditor General being able to authorize people as under sub section 2 above, it doesn’t give the Auditor General the authority to appoint people to audit the accounts of government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies including all persons and bodies which have been created by a law. However, the Auditor General shall; -)

Section 125 (a)(i)

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

(The Auditor General shall provide such bodies mentioned in sub section 3, with a list of auditors which the office of the Auditor General have appointed as their external auditors and which those bodies mentioned can appoint from that list as their external auditor.)

Section 125 (a)(ii)

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

(The Auditor General can also provide a guideline as to how external auditors appointed by those bodies mentioned can be paid for their services.)

Section 125 (b)

comment on their annual accounts and auditor’s report thereon.

(The Auditor General also can leave comments on the annual accounts and auditor’s reports of those bodies mentioned.)

Section 125 (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.

(The Auditor General of the State has the power to periodically check/ audit all government corporations created by statutes, commissions, authorities, agencies and also persons and bodies which have been created/ established by a law of the State House of Assembly.)

Section 125 (5)

The Auditor-General for a State shall, within ninety days of receipt of the Accountant-General’s financial
statement and annual accounts of the State, submit his report to the House of Assembly of the State and the House shall cause the report to be considered by a committee of the House responsible for public accounts.

(Within 90 days of the Auditor General receiving the Accountant General of a State’s financial statement and annual accounts of the State, the Auditor General is to submit his report to the State House of Assembly and the House is then supposed to submit that report to a committee of the House specifically responsible for public accounts.)

Section 125 (6)

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

(In order to effectively and efficiently carry out his functions under the Constitution, the Auditor General will not be under the direction or control of any person while he is carrying out his function as an Auditor General of a State.)

Section 126 (1)

The Auditor-General for a State shall be appointed by the Governor of the State on the recommendation
of the State Civil Service Commission subject to confirmation by the House of Assembly of the State.

(For a person to be appointed to the position of the Auditor General of the State, the State Civil Service Commission will make recommendations to the Governor of a State and then the Governor appoints someone and such person will then be confirmed by the House of Assembly of the State.)

Section 126 (2)

The power to appoint persons to act in the office of the Auditor-General for a State shall vest in the
Governor.

(The Governor of a State has the power to appoint whoever is to act in the office of the Auditor General for a State. i.e. as was stated in the previous section, this sub section reaffirms the position that it is the Governor of a State that appoints persons to the office of the Auditor General of a State.)

Section 126 (3)

Except with the sanction of a resolution of the House of Assembly of a State, no person shall act in the office of the Auditor-General for a State for a period exceeding six months.

(A person can only act as the Auditor General of a State for not more than 6 (six) months unless a resolution/ decision has been passed by the State House of Assembly permitting the person to act in such position for more than the 6 (six) months limit.)

Compare with Auditor General of the Federation here.