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Torkwase Nyiekaa
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts will host the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) from September 8 to 12, 2025, at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
The announcement was made in a statement issued by the WAAPAC Secretariat in Accra, Ghana.
WAAPAC was established in 2009 following a World Bank Institute seminar in partnership with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the Parliamentary Centre (PC). Legislatures from Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone participated in that landmark meeting, which resolved to establish a regional platform for strengthening parliamentary accountability through peer learning and knowledge exchange.
This year’s conference, themed “Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt: The Role of Finance and Public Accounts Committees,” is expected to attract more than 300 delegates, including legislators, auditors-general, fiscal policy experts, and development partners from across West Africa and beyond. The five-day programme will focus on building the capacity of finance and public accounts committees to effectively oversee public debt and borrowing. It will also examine debt trends and risks in the region, clarify the role of parliaments in debt governance, and propose strategies to ensure debt sustainability.
The General Assembly will deliberate on WAAPAC’s organisational development and governance framework, while the conference is expected to close with country-specific action plans designed to strengthen legislative oversight of public debt across the sub-region. Participants will include members of public accounts and finance committees, parliamentary staff, auditors-general, as well as observers from eSwatini, Kenya, South Africa, and representatives of sister parliamentary networks such as AFROPAC and SADCOPAC.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Rep. Bamidele Salam, said Nigeria’s hosting of the conference was both timely and significant. According to him, the gathering would provide a robust platform for peer engagement, knowledge exchange, and collaborative learning that would advance transparency and fiscal discipline across West Africa.
He further disclosed that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, will formally declare the event open, while the Minister of Finance is scheduled to deliver the keynote address. Other dignitaries expected include the chairpersons of WAAPAC and AFROPAC, alongside goodwill messages from the UNDP Country Representative, global development partners, and allied parliamentary organisations.
Rep. Salam called on the Nigerian media to give the conference wide coverage, describing it as a valuable opportunity to showcase Nigeria as the host of one of the continent’s most important parliamentary accountability gatherings.
The 11th WAAPAC Annual Conference is expected to set the stage for stronger legislative oversight and sustainable debt management practices across West Africa.