The Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris has called on the Leadership of the National Assembly to enact laws that would strengthen the public financial management reforms such Treasury Single Account , IPPIS, IPSAS and GIFMIS being implemented by his office.
He made this appeal while receiving the Senate committee members on Public Account when they visited the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) as part of their mandate in ensuring accountability, transparency and value-for-money in the management of public accounts of the Federation.
Ahmed Idris while responding to some issues raised by the members of the Senate Public Accounts Committee noted that the (OAGF )Office of the Accountant General of the Federation is facing a myriad of challenges whilst stressing that the office has also recorded a lot of successes. Some one the challenges enumerated included non compliance of the Agencies with the provisions of Fiscal Responsibility act requiring the payment of 80%of the operating surplus to Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) . Mr Idris therefore called on the Committee Members to use their good office to enact laws that would help to resolve the problem.
Speaking further, Mr Idris noted that there is a lack of appropriate sanctions against MDAS that spend revenue generated without authorization.
Ahmed Idris reiterated the dedication of the Treasury House towards the success of the reform policies of government and added that OAGF has employed the services of a Quality Control Assurance Manager adding that the office is being mindful of hackers.
The Accountant-General also highlighted a few achievements of the Treasury House in the seven (7) months since he assumed duty as the AGF ; which he stated were achieved through Corporate Social Responsibility by some banks. Some of those achievements include; Acquisition of Six (6) new buses for staff movement, a brand new Car port, establishing a crèche for babies of staff members to ease the stress on parents during office hours, a Clinic that can sleep 12 patients- 6 male and 6 female, ICT equipments and several others.
The chairman of the Comittee, Senator Andy Ubah in his address stated that the Senate Public Account Comittee is constitutionally approved by government for oversight function on the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) adding that they are dedicated stakeholders in the struggle to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Constitution, Senate standing order and extant acts towards ensuring economy efficiency and effectiveness in the management of public funds in spite of their busy schedule at the National Assembly.
