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FRCN Seeks Single Financial Statement For Nigeria

Representative of Cbn Governor, Alhaji Aliyu-Katuka (right), presenting a gift to representative of Adamawa State Governor, Alhaji Mahmud Sali, during a two-day sensitisation programmes on Apex Bank initiatives in Yola on Monday.
The Financial Reporting
Council of Nigeria (FRCN) has called for the development of one financial statement which will show financial position of the tiers of government in the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of FRC, Mr Jim Obazee, made the call yesterday at the ongoing 13th annual governing board meeting of the African Organisation of English Speaking Supreme Audit Institutions.
Obazee said publishing one financial statement for the country and making it public would help to promote transparency and accountability, thereby eliminating corruption.
“With properly recorded financial information, we will be able to harmonise financial reports within government agencies and also have reliable financial information in the country.
“I am looking forward to a situation where governments in Africa can have a whole government financial statement.
“In Nigeria, we should be able to publish the financial statement of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This should include all the figures from the federal, state and local governments which will show us at a given time the true situation,’’ he said.
Obazee also advocated for interim statements through quarterly audit rather than annual audit.
Obazee said using the right set of financial reporting standard was key to curbing corruption and called for the full adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
He said IPSAS would make it imperative for public sector to practise full disclosure of financial statements which hinged on transparency, integrity and accountability.
Obazee said this would help to rekindle the confidence of donor agencies and international lenders such as World Bank.
“For us to fully enjoy the benefit of IPSAS in Nigeria, all the states and local governments must have to adopt it.
“For now, only Lagos has adopted and Akwa Ibom is working toward adopting it.
“Also, the Finance Management Act, 1958, has to be revised by the National Assembly.
“It is important that we revise it if we are to embrace IPSAS, otherwise even if we are to operate IPSAS, we won’t be doing it legally,’’ he said.
Obazee also said that it was important for the office of the Auditor-General to be strengthened to enable it sanction erring agencies and ensure that audit practice was properly regulated.
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BVN Enrolments Rise 6% To 67.8m In 2025 — NIBSS
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.
