Govt tasks accountants on ethical practice

The Federal Government has tasked professional accountants in the country on the need for ethical practice to achieve accelerated economic development through prudent management of public funds.

President Muhammadu Buhari gave the challenge at the opening of the 2015 yearly National Conference of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

The President, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia, said it was urgent that accountants and holders of public office uphold the ethical standards and professional ethics in the prudent management of pubic, funds.

He urged accountants to also design a robust model for proper accounting of resource utilisation, financial reporting and performance evaluation.

“Our statute books are replete with laws, rules and regulations for accountants and accounting practice, but we have been unable to arrest the tide of unbriddled corruption, which is largely aided by unethical practices by those whose duty it is to uphold public trust.

“In recognition of this situation, government put in place several initiatives in the public financial management system, namely  GIFMIS, IPPIS, IPSAS and more recently, the Treasury Single account (TSA)  for which I demand faithful implementation,’’ Buhari said.

The President stressed the need for the accounting profession “to partner with the government in instituting a system which is performance focused and sensitive to the best professional standards in revenue mapping and capturing’’.

He also mentioned the need to partner in expenditure profiling, financial records management and fiscal discipline, as the change agenda is anchored on the quest for building a new and greater Nigeria.

“One of the greatest problems in our nation today is not lack of dwindling resources but lack of ethics and values in our daily lives and activities.

“We must, therefore, as a people change our ways of doing things, especially where previous approaches have not yielded the desired results,” he said.

The president noted that Nigeria’s problem bothered on ethical conduct, value orientation, accountability and transparency and the continuous search for best practices in both public and private sectors accounting system.  

“This will in no small measure deepen the understanding of existing and new government initiatives in the accounting sector and further enhance efficient Public Financial Management the country,” he added.