Buhari Tasks Accountants on Accurate Reporting, Transparency

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President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians and other investors in the country that his administration would continue to promote policies that would bring about accelerated economic development, even as he stressed the need for prudent management of public funds by accountants and other public servants.

Buhari, stated this in a message at the opening of the 2015 Annual 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 necessary that accountants and holders of public office should 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 unbridled 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,’’ the president said in a statement.

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 noted the need to partner in expenditure profiling, financial records management and fiscal discipline.
According to president Buhari, the change agenda of this administration is anchored on the quest for building a new and greater Nigeria.

The theme of this year’s conference: "Value Creation and Relevance of the Professional Accountants,"’ showed that ANAN was set to confront the challenges facing not only the professional accountants but the entire economy, he said.

In his address, the President of ANAN, Mr Anthony Nzom, said in salvaging the nation, steps must be taken at moving from being a mono-product economy with total dependence on crude oil by exploiting alternative modes of revenue generation.