Last week, precisely April 28, 2015, the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, was represented by the Honourable Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, at the launch of IPSAS Accrual Accounting Manual in Nigeria.

He was to capture the significance of the event by describing the development of the Accrual Accounting Manual “as a pivotal milestone and deliverable towards the implementation of IPSAS in Nigeria’’.

He also stated that the Manual being launched has been developed as a comprehensive guideline for the practice of IPSAS compliant Accrual- Accounting in public sector entities across the Federation. He added that it had been carefully put together to meet the needs and aspirations of all officers involved across the three tiers of government.

The Vice President then urged all the stakeholders to comply fully with the adoption of the Manual, accept and embrace it for use as it comes on board by January 1, 2016.

Before July 10, 2010, the standard accounting practice in Nigeria left much to be desired due to observable lapses in financial reporting among public sector entities, a development that put a big question mark on issues bordering on transparency and accountability in government financial transactions.

The situation, however, took a turn for the better when the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee, FAAC, approved the setting-up of a technical sub­ committee to chart the road map for the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards, IPSAS, by all tiers of Government. Since then the process has been nurtured to the point where the Manual is presently ready for use.

It is note -worthy that the development and launch of this IPSAS Accrual Manual was facilitated by the resilient, leadership of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla, who also doubled as Chairman, FAAC IPSAS Committee.

Mr Otunla’s contribution in this regard was acknowledged and appreciated by the Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Damladi Kifasi, who commended him(Otunla) and the sub-committee members on IPSAS for putting together such Manual and also advised all Treasury Officers to be above board in their duties.

The question most uninformed readers are bound to ask is: What is IPSAS, and why do we need to adopt it in Nigeria? Well, those in a position to know will readily tell you that IPSAS is an internationally acceptable form of reporting across the globe that enhances accountability and comparability. We have also been reliably informed that the adoption of IPSAS in Nigeria will enhance transparency and accountability in financial reporting.

But it has also emerged that there is a lot more to do to harness its operational benefits. This is because development requires more investments in human capital, rural-urban integration, reduction in poverty, creating jobs and wealth as well as provision of health care. These developmental activities require increase in capital expenditure. To finance such expenditure, we have been told, reform like this must be put in place to generate and collect revenue due to government. Reform is 10% design and 90% implementation. It requires a great deal of boldness and these imitatives have helped save funds that were previously paid to ghost workers to the tune of over N150 billion and have also flushed out over 50 thousand ghost workers from the payroll.

It is also on record that the reforms succeeded in averting attempts to divert or misappropriate funds in MDAs, thus forcing a premature short down which resulted in the delayed payment of salaries by some MDA in December 2014. This indeed is a clear proof of what has been achieved.

Remarkably, the IPSAS is one of several Public Financial Management, PFM, reform initiatives introduced and being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Finance under the auspices of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, OAGF. The other key ones include the e-payment, Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS; Treasury Single Account, TSA; Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System, IPPIS; Modernisation of Internal Audit and Cash Management System.

The e-payment or e – collection, it must be noted,  is part of Treasury contribution  towards increasing government cash flow at a time of severe cash squeeze. It is expected to drive the current policy on TSA and GIFMIS. The TSA came as a response to improve the cash management capabilities of the Federal Government of Nigeria. It came into being in April 2012.

GIFMIS is a sub-component of the ERGP which supports the public resource    management and targets anti-corruption initiatives through modernising fiscal processes using better methods, techniques and information technology.

As for the IPPIS, the objective is to create a centralised database system for Nigerian public service with single, accurate source of employee information that provides integration with other business applications to aid government manpower planning and decision making.

The successful deployment of these reform initiatives clearly define Mr Otunla’s tenure as one who made a difference when it mattered most, and therefore he truly deserves all the accolades being showered on him for his outstanding performance. He is one who painstakingly devotes energy to ensuring that the government financial system gets better for the benefit of all, both in the private and public sectors.

Mr Austin Nwoye, a financial expert, wrote from Abuja