AGF, Mr. Jonah Otunla,
Senator Iroegbu
The Federal Government has said concrete arrangements are being made to ensure that all general purpose financial statements of the three tiers of government become compliant to the provision of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) before the end of 2012.
Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Jonah Otunla, disclosed this Wednseday in Kaduna, while declaring open a two-day sensitisation workshop for stakeholders in the North-west zone on the adoption of IPSAS in Nigeria.
Otunla, who was represented at the workshop by the Accountant General of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Abdullahi, said the theme: “The adoption of IPSAS in Nigeria-the role of stakeholders” was carefully selected to get the buy-in of political office holders and professionals needed to achieved the process.
He explained that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved at its meeting of July 28, 2010 that Nigeria should adopt the provisions of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and IPSAS for the private and public sectors respectively.
“Consequently, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) at its meeting held on 13th June, 2011 set up a sub-committee to provide a roadmap for the adoption of IPSAS in the three tiers of government in Nigeria. This interactive workshop in Kaduna which is for the North-west zone is expected to be held in all the six geo-political zones of the country,” he added.
The sub-committee had earlier paid a courtesy visit on Governor Patrick Yakowa, before commencing the workshop.
While welcoming the stakeholders and members of the sub-committee at the Kaduna State Government House, Yakowa said the governors of the North-west region would do everything possible to assist the Federal Government achieve in its desire for adoption of IPSAS.
The governor noted that the process for adoption of IPSAS, which started in 2010, was a milestone decision by the government, which should be encouraged by all tiers of government if the present administration was to succeed.
He said the state was already working on a number of reforms with regards to IPSAS system.