The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) in collaboration with Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) organised a conference titled “Sustainable Public Finance” to deliberate on the economic status of Nigeria’s in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
During the deliberation, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, ACCA’s Global Council Member/PWC West Africa Tax Lead, facilitated a panel discussion where Covid-19 pandemic was described as a crisis like no other as over 90% of countries around the world were expected to walk into a recession and hence Governments must adopt and introduce new monetary policy. The panel looked at the role of the Public Sector and established strong link between Sustainable Public Finance (SPF) and Balance sheet (BS), implying that for Nigeria to have SPF, professional Accountants must be positively engaged .
The panel reiterated the importance of Accountancy in the management of the resources of any nation. Therefore accountants should expectedly lead and provide direction during and after the COVID-19 by closely partnering with Governments and relevant authorities to establish sound internal control systems, build or consolidate on the existing ones so that corruption, fraud, wastages could be checked.
The Director General BPSR, Mr Dasuki I. Arabi stated that the Bureau was proud to partner with ACCA and described it as a global body of professional Accountants famous for its support to individuals and institutions to enhance the delivery of public value and the value of the profession in the society through extensive research and professional insights. The DG also acknowledged the stance of ACCA on global issues which had significantly helped to re-shape the economic trajectories around the world and instil ethics in the accounting profession, making it to grow in relevance, reputation and influence over the years.
Mr Arabi, reaffirmed the Bureau’s continued readiness to provide virile and sustainable Public Finance policy for the country, stating that the objective of pillar 3 of the NSPSR which focussed on Public Finance Management was to achieve strategic, efficient and effective mobilization, allocation and use of public resources, fiscal discipline, transparency, integrity and accountability through timely reporting and reduction of man to man contact in managing public funds.
He recognised and appreciated that a lot of successes were achieved in Nigeria by some public sector institutions, notably the FIRS, rated among the best in the world. With regards to the reforms in the Public Financial Management, he stated that enormous gains could be seen around Government Integrated Financial & Management Information System (GIFMIS), International Public Sector Accounting System (IPASAS), IPPIS, TSA, BVN etc.
In his concluding remarks, the DG mentioned that Nigeria may not be where the World Bank and other international bodies had expected, but he was proud of President Buhari’s passion for reforms. Hence, he encouraged Nigerians particularly, the professional Accountants to be more patriotic and add value to their work in order to manage our Public Finance in line with best practices.