The Federal Government has ordered Ministry, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
It threatened MDAs that fail to prepare their individual statement of account will be locked out of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
The Director Consolidated Account Department of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) Mr Abubakar Velkuk stated this in Abuja on Wednesday at a three-day nationwide training and capacity-building programme for public financial management operators in the three tiers of government.
Velkuk said: “As from 2023, any MDA that does not prepare its individual account statement will no longer be part of the IPSAS platform”.
Velkuk urged participants at the training to pay keen attention to the lectures that will be delivered as that will equip them in preparing financial statements acceptable under IPSAS.
Speaking at the event, the Director Overseeing the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) who was represented by the Director Audit Monitoring Mr Chizea Onochie Peter noted that “due to certain drawbacks, not all entities of government have been able to effectively migrate from Cash Basis Accounting to IPSAS Accrual Basis of Accounting”.
One of the major drawbacks they have identified he said is “inadequate manpower and capacity at the various levels of government to drive IPSAS implementation and that is why the Sub-committee has made concerted effort to continue to build capacities across the three tiers of government”.
He added that “as part of the effort of the Sub-Committee, relevant reference materials including Accounting Policies to be adopted, Guidelines on the recognition of legacy assets, highlight of what you need to know on IPSAS, Accrual Accounting Manual and other Financial Reporting publications and templates have been developed to further enhance the proficiency of key finance operators”.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Sub-committee Presiding Chairman Mr. Christopher Nyong stated that “by 2023, we will not accept any excuse from any MDA on IPSAS implementation”.
“Sanctions will come naturally because if you are unable to implement IPSAS as an MDA it means your access to public funds will be impaired. It’s a natural sanction,” he said.
IPSAS, he said “will very much address the issue of corruption in our system as the IPSAS framework will help address the loopholes created by corruption.
