Mimiko tasks new Assembly members

Ondo govt applauds accounting style, IPSAS implementation 

The state’s 7th Assembly had a valedictory session after which the new Assembly was inaugurated with the Speaker and her deputy emerging before the close of the inaugural sitting. Congratulating the newly elected officers and the entire members of the 8th Assembly, Mimiko reiterated his belief in the ability of the lawmakers to do the state proud.

According to the governor, the quality of personalities in the new Assembly attest to the fact that the state will witness tremendous growth with the expected robust legislation from the chamber.

Mimiko implored the legislators to make the interest of the state paramount to enable them meet the yearnings of the people they are representing at the Assembly. He said able legislation goes a long way in ensuring the growth and stability of a state and nation adding that his government has always been lucky to have patriotic and efficient legislators to work with.

Showering encomiums on the immediate past Assembly, Mimiko said expectations of the people on the government are high despite the economic challenges adding however that with quality legislation and sincerity of purpose from the Assembly members, the state will remain a model. Mimiko had on another occasion charged members-elect  to cooperate with the executive arm of government  for more dividends of democracy and good governance.

He gave the charge when they came to show their certificates of returns to the governor at the Cocoa Conference Hall of the Governor’s Office in Akure, stressing that the government was able to record its landmark achievements because of the cooperation of the outgoing Assembly members.

The governor, who urged the new members to render undiluted service to the people, also commended the synergy between the outgoing legislature and the executive which he said has helped in the unprecedented development recorded so far in the state.

Mimiko equally thanked the people of Ondo State for their continued support for his administration, particularly in the last House of Assembly election where his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won majority seats. Earlier in her speech, the Speaker said the new Assembly would continue to carry out its constitutional mandate without causing any political disaffection.

Akindele also thanked the governor for his effort in ensuring the PDP won a majority of the seats in the election and assured him of their cooperation for more development.

The state PDP Chairman, Clement Faboyede, had earlier presented the members-elect to Mimiko, who enjoined them to justify the confidence reposed in them by the people. Faboyede stressed that they must continue to work in their respective constituencies to guarantee more successes for the party in subsequent election.

Meanwhile, Ondo State government has applauded the implementation of International  Public Sector Accounting  Standards (IPSAS) in the country’s accounting system, saying it would bring greater efficiency and engender accountability.

The state’s Commissioner for Finance, Yele Ogundipe, in his message to a three-day Practical Training Workshop on IPSAS in Akure said the idea was a novel accounting standard.

Ogundipe, whose address was presented by the Permanent Secretary, Olufunmilayo Ajayi, said IPSAS was a novel accounting reporting standards aimed at enhancing greater disclosure of financial information about government financial transactions.

The process, he said, is bound to encourage accountability and more openness, adding that  It will also assist government at all levels render a clearer and more detailed stewardship account to the citizenry.

“In Ondo State, IPSAS will avail us tremendous benefits such as increased level of more responsibility to the electorate, high level of transparency as IPSAS encourages full disclosure, international best practices and comparability of financial reports.”

According to the commissioner, IPSAS “will help build the confidence of donor agencies and lenders thereby increase the eligibility of the state to access economic benefits and enable the electorate have access to our reports of stewardship in a more comprehensive and timely manner.”

He charged the participants to focus on the papers to be presented at the workshop stressing that the workshop is intended to strengthen them, being the natural drivers on the road to a successful implementation of IPSAS and also prepare them for the challenges ahead.

He thus urged the participants  to “pay attention to the documents available for presentation here particularly those we have to do differently under IPSAS especially as they relate to accounting policies adopted for transactions under IPSAS , transactions to be recognised and to be disclosed in the financial statements.”

In his address, the Accountant-General of the state, Fred Ajibokun, said the workshop was towards the state government’s continued efforts at the preparation and presentation of a globally accepted, transparent, consistent and internationally comparable financial statements.