Amaechi Tasks Accountants, Auditors, On Transparency

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has charged accountants, auditors and all those responsible for the management of public sector finance to adopt a mechanism that would create more transparency and accountability in financial system of the country.

Governor Amaechi gave this charge recently when members of Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) Sub-Committee on the Roadmap for Adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) led by its Chairman and the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Jonah Otunla, visited him in Government House, Port Harcourt.

Represented by his Deputy, Engr. Tele Ikuru, Governor Amaechi decried the profligacy associated with the management of public funds, stressing that time has come for those assigned the responsibilities of managing public finance and accounts in the three tiers of government in the country to live up to their responsibilities, pointed out that, “this would be an advantage to the fight against corruption and check excesses in the management of our resources”.

Earlier, Chairman of the sub-committee, Mr. Jonah Otunla, represented by the Accountant General of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udo Isobara, had appealed to the state chief executive to “direct the adoption of IPSAS in the general purpose financial statements of the state government,” disclosing that “the Federal Executive Council’s meeting of 28th July, 2010, approved the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards and International Public Sector Accounting Standards for public and private sectors, respectively”.

According to him, IPSAS has “a set of high quality, independently developed accounting standards aimed at meeting the financial reporting needs of the public sector”, explaining that IPSAS provides globally acceptable systems for comparability of financial reporting in governments, adding that it will help in fighting corruption in the nation’s public sector.