OAG CLARIFIES STATUS OF PROVINCIAL AUDITS
The Office of the Auditor General confirms that Provincial Audits for Rennell and Bellona Province for the periods of 2022 and 2023 have been released, as opposed to recent media reports published recently by the Provincial Government Strengthening Program within the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening.
The recent statement announced receiving complete audit reports from 6 provinces for the period of 2022 and 2023 with varying results. The provinces are Central, Choiseul, Isabel, Western, Temotu and Guadalcanal. The statement also announced that they are currently waiting for the Office of the Auditor General to submit Audit Reports for that particular period, for Malaita, Rennell and Bellona and Makira Ulawa Provinces.
However, the OAG clarifies that Audit Opinions for Rennell and Bellona were released to the Speaker of Rennell and Bellona Province, the Hon Jefter Tuhangena, in July this year. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Provincial Government was also copied in on the email.
Meanwhile, Malaita and Makira and Ulawa Provinces are yet to respond to audit queries before final audit report for 2023 can be released.
The Provincial Audit Opinions for the periods of 2022 and 2023 released to Provincial Governments or tabled in Parliament so far are as follows:
Audit Opinion Definitions:
Unqualified Audit Opinion
An unqualified audit opinion, also known as a clean opinion, indicates that an entity’s financial statements present a true and fair view in all material respects, without any significant reservations.
Qualified Audit Opinion
A qualified audit opinion indicates that, except for specific identified issues, the financial statements are fairly presented in accordance with the applicable accounting standards.
Disclaimer Audit Opinion
A disclaimer audit opinion is issued when an auditor cannot obtain enough reliable evidence to form any opinion on a company’s financial statements, typically due to material and pervasive scope limitations.
Emphasis of Matter
An emphasis of matter means a specific section added to an auditor’s report to draw attention to a critical issue already presented or disclosed in the financial statements that is important to the user’s understanding, without changing the auditor’s opinion.
The OAG provincial audits 2022-2024 are supported by UNCDF, which provides some funding for consultancy, logistics and equipment. Audit fieldwork for 2024 for all Provinces are complete and the outcomes, alongside the commencement of 2025 audit fieldwork should be finalised this year, depending on how Provinces respond to requirements of the audit process.
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