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

'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...

Coalition urges COP-27 to fast track advocacy against Climate Change

Participants in a group photograph after the event in Kaduna By EDDY OCHIGBO, A coalition of environmental organizations in Kaduna, under the aegis Extinction Rebellion (XR) - a global movement which seeks to persuade governments to act justly on climate change and ecological emergency - has hosted a pre-COP27, in partnership with Bridge-that-Gap Initiative, to galvanize the campaign against climate change, as the the 27th Conference of Parties slated for Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt kicks off. In an exclusive interview with NATIONAL ACCORD, one the coordinators of the event in Kaduna metropolis, Mr Zinta Akpoko, revealed that COP27, Egypt could become a turning point of the campaign, given that forerunners of the conference have since pledged to relentlessly push to prioritize climate financing for developing nations. "The effect of climate change is very evident and we need to be very frank by telling the truth about the inherent dangers tha...

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...

N81.68bn Supplementary Budget: Matters Arising!

By YUSUF GOJE R egardless of the good intention - anything for us, without us, cannot be for us. I have been wondering if the Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitment one (Open Budget) covers supplementary budgets in Kaduna state.. The proposed supplementary budget of 81.68bn before the Kaduna State House of Assembly (KSHoA) is about 51.8% of the total 2019 approved budget of N157.45bn; which when passed will take the budget for the year to about N230bn. This is said to be from the World Bank loan approved for Kaduna state. While I have no personal issue with the loan, because it has a clause that makes it non-discretional (tied to projects) and we are ready as civil society to track its utilization; over the past three years, even with the OGP in place, we have been having supplementary budgets passed without citizen's engagement and inputs, more so, without their initial knowledge. We usually become aware of it just before or after KSHoA passes it into ...

Open Budget: Kaduna seeks citizens' input in 2020 Budget

F ollowing sustained campaign by concerned citizens and critical stakeholders in Kaduna state to open up the budget cycle, the Governor el-Rufa'i-led administration, during the week, engaged the representatives of the academia, community-based organizations, the civil society, women groups and individuals on state's 2020 to 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework(MTEF) to make next year's budget budget realistic and realizable. The event tagged 'Citizens Consultations on 2020-2022 MTEF' which was put together by the state's Planning and Budget Commission with the support of DFID-funded Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), took a critical look at strategies to forge a people-centered budget with emphasis on transparency, openness and accountability. Co-chair of the Open Government Partnership(OGP) in the state, Alhaji Mustapha Jumare told participants that as a sub national, Kaduna state was indeed a trail brazer in nation's quest ...

Cubinks NEWS

Search This Blog