Yearning for sound Fiscal Responsibility

Fundamentals for good governance

Government and Citizens' Groups in Kaduna state have teamed up to engender effective budget tracking and implementation to create the enabling environment for increased internally generated revenue (IGR), in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

This was the fallout of a three-day eye opening event, facilitated by Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL-ECP), in collaboration with the Kaduna state government. The engagement touched on the urgent need to conduct budget trend analysis across key sectors - Economics, Social, Law/Justice as well as Administration, including audit report, all aimed ultimately at putting Kaduna state in good stead for sustained economic growth.

Addressing participants drawn from government and citizens' groups, Mr Timothy Effiong, a Public Financial Management Consultant, maintained that even in Kaduna a state that is very policy-driven, there exist gaps in general administration which tend to dislocate effective budget implementation. "Governance overheads in some cases are higher than the budgets of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state" Effiong disclosed, adding that to reverse the trend, "conscious efforts are currently being made to suppress overheads so as to accommodate social infrastructure, especially for people with disability.

While picking holes with the quality of internal control in the Accountant-General's office, the consultant called for the creation of a cadre for internal audit and periodic capacity building for internal auditors in the state. He reasoned that making internal audit independent of the Accountant-General's office would not only enhance fiscal discipline but would also infuse into the system, procurement planning by MDAs to increase budget releases, thereby halting unnecessary returns of monies to treasury.

Effiong remarked that a situation where some MDAs receive their releases late was counterproductive, emphasizing that there should be procurement planning to ensure that budget releases follow due diligence and international best practices.

Earlier, participants, were briefed on why state financial report should be IPSAS compliant because a cash based IPSAS is different from the accrual IPSAS. This, according to our findings is because financial regulations control the financial and accounting matters, giving the fact standards are the body of rules guiding financial administration - when service is rendered there is accrual, meaning that Financial Statements must have names, otherwise known as the entity concept.

In the not too distant past, every nation had it's own financial standard which has now been harmonized into two standards. There is now convergence and as long as it complies with IPSAS, the nomenclature does not matter, since IPSAS is not profit-oriented. International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board(IPSASB)- provides comprehensive information for public sector financial management and decision-making process to ensure the following:

*preparation of financial statements and financial position;

*components of accrual based financial statement; and

*financial statements of government must be business-oriented even though it does not declare profit;

The fact that Nigeria has been a signatory to IPSAS provision since 2014 makes even obligatory for her to fully comply with IPSAS provisions to detect and punish fraud and crime as stipulated by Fiscal responsibility Act. The meeting urged Auditors to do more in area of detecting and preventing fraud in government rather than window dressing of accounts to cover fraud.

Highlight of the Kaduna 2019 Budget Postmortem with Government and Citizens' groups was the review of this year's budget as well as sectoral allocation.

Comments

Malaria: In solidarity with Under-5s

A cross section of children Ward DANGWA DANJUMA R enewed campaign to eradicate malaria as part of activities to commemorate the World Malaria Day 2022, led by Centre for Media Advocacy for Mother and Child (CAMAC) has kicked off in Kaduna. The campaign which is part of the NGOs "Malaria Eradication Campaign 2022" with the theme: "Eliminating Malaria through Community Engagement", this year, is themed: “Harness Innovation to Reduce the Malaria Disease Burden and Save Lives” The World Malaria Day is celebrated every 25th of April to bring greater awareness to the global fight and recognise the existence of malaria across the globe. This year's project is being supported by Newsweb Express an online news platform in collaboration with Civil Society for Malaria Elimination (CS4ME) a global network uniting civil society organizations and communities to achieve malaria elimination. People are more prone to malaria in the rainy weather and it is timely when communitie...

Kaduna IDPs cry out over Deplorable Conditions

By DANGWA DANJUMA L ack of basic education, sanitation, healthcare facilities and access to portable water supply have hit Gwagwada, a host community camping over 300 households displaced from fifteen villages in Chikun Local Council of the state. Speaking at the flag off of relief materials distribution for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), the Village Head of Gadani, Mr Bitrus Tsauri disclosed: “Since they arrived, the wells which have been the sure source of water for several households in the community have dried up; the solar powered borehole is only providing drips of water necessitating most residents to seek drinking water from streams. Our two public primary schools and healthcare facility are currently inadequate and may be unsafe, especially with the coronavirus pandemic that Kaduna state is still counting cases”. He confirmed that those who can farm, have been provided land to start over again; there is still the worry however, for those who are unable to farm due t...

'Development Partners, a blessing to my Community' - District Head

His Highness, Mr Haruna Kuye (3rd left, middle roll) flanked by the visitors and village heads T he District Head of Gidan Zaki, His Highness, Mr Haruna Kuye has given kudos to members of the civil society, for positively touching the lives of his people, through frequent capacity building in governance processes, thereby empowering his community in the area of tracking and monitoring government projects. "Work began sometime ago in my community and no one had information on the details of the project. I mobilized and led a small team to engage and inquire from the client and contractor the details of the project. Now we know the kilometers of the road to be constructed. I am grateful to participate in Open Government Partnership with regard to Local Government Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability engagements; without which we would not have had any idea by now on the ongoing governance reforms in Kaduna State.", he disclosed. He st...

TRIBUTE: Dr Bala Takaya 1930 - 2018

Bala John Takaya (2nd Left) at a function recently By Nasiru Jagaba Again, with rude shock, death has come upon us in the early hours of Sunday, 27th May, 2018. It is with deepest regret that the Middle Belt Youth Wing of Middle Belt Forum mourns the death of our President, Father, Mentor, and a tireless advocate of equity, fairness and justice, Dr Bala John Takaya, the President of Middle Belt Forum has silently closed the door of life and departed from us, never to return. 68 years old Takaya, an unparalleled University Senior Lecturer, a distinct politician who served as the Secretary to State Government of the old Gongola State, a member of the 1987 Political Bureau. On the fight to restore democratic system of governance, he worked hand in hand with Chief Solomon Lar. Also, in 1999 he was the governorship candidate of the All People’s Party, APP later ANPP. He is much esteemed in the community of Middle Belt and generally recognized as on...

'Terrorists are all over, not only Southern Kaduna'

-Governor Nasir el-Rufai el-Rufai addressing Journalists in Hausa after a security meeting on Southern Kaduna By DANGWA DANJUMA G overnor Ahmed Nasir el-Rufai has admitted that terrorists are everywhere in Kaduna state, not only in the troubled Southern Kaduna, disclosing that miscreants have taken to the social media space to promote what he called disturbing and further aggravating the worsening situation situation with religious and ethnic colouration. Speaking to newsmen in Hausa, after a meeting with security officials, el-Rufai said that miscreants from Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and outside Nigeria are trying to insinuate that the Southern Kaduna killings is ethnic and religious even going as far as asking people to take the law into their hands. While maintaining that these people would be brought to book, he tasked traditional leaders, religious leaders and political office holders in the state to speak the truth about the happenings as failing to do so wo...

Cubinks NEWS

Search This Blog