By Emem Idio, Yenagoa 

The President and Chairman of Council of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, ANAN, Dr. James Neminebor, said the country would have been topmost in financial stability if trained accountants are allowed to manage government’s budgetary implementation process.

However, he said the country can overcome the various economic challenges if governments at all levels can adopt proper budget implementation and fiscal discipline in the budget implementation processes.

Neminebor, who stated this during ANAN 2nd session of the 2025 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCDP) Programme and Induction of New Members in Yenagoa, on Tuesday, regretted that the dubious diversion of budgetary funds is the bane of the country’s budgeting process and public service delivery.

Speaking on the theme “Corporate Value Creation and Reporting” Dr. Neminebor, harped on the need for proper trained accountants to be engaged by the public office holders to help advise the leaders on some right economic policies for the country.

He also urged accountants to remain committed to excellence and value-adding strides to their respective organizations and continually uphold the ethics of the profession.

Neminebor, who is rounding up his tenure said under his leadership as the President and Chairman of Council of ANAN, the accounting body has been positioned ANAN in the forefront to be reckoned with in Africa and the world at large.

His words:“Government is rule by budget, in every year, we put down on paper that these are the things we will spend on and they are backed up with money, these are the things we feel will satisfy the entire sector of the economy, implement that budgetary allocations, don’t divert budget A to budget C, that what brings problems in our economy.

“Train the accountants to direct the administrators, if accountants are professionally trained to direct the administrators to implement proper budgeting, Nigeria will be topmost in financial stability and economy will start to grow significantly.

“As professional Accountants, we play critical roles in creating corporate value and providing accurate and timely financial information to stakeholders, our responsibilities are strategic, proactive and far-reaching as we are pivotal to organizational planning, decision making, risk management and performance measurement in tracking progress.” 

Also speaking, the ANAN Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kayode Fasua, urged accountants to utilise the knowledge and insights gained from the workshop to strive for excellence in their profession.

He said the training underscores the importance of staying abreast of the evolving trends and standards of the profession.

He said: “Corporate value creation is at the heart of every successful business strategy, focussing on both financial and non-financial factors that contribute to long term Sustainability and stakeholders wealth.” 

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri while declaring the workshop open urged the accountants to always strive to be professional while discharging their duties, as they are very pivotal in economic growth of any nation.

Represented by his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, Governor Diri expressed satisfaction with the calibre of intellectual discourse at the training, stating that it will impact positively on the governance in the country.