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By Chukwuma Umeorah
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has stressed the importance of assessing the impact of governance on the life of its citizens.
This was as it equally reiterated the need for holding government officials accountable in the management of public finance.
The President of ICAN, Innocent Okwuosa, stated this at the Institute’s 22nd conferment of fellowship status ceremony in Lagos at the weekend.
Okwuosa emphasized the role accountants play in supporting government policies to foster economic growth and contribute to the development of the nation.
He urged accountants to uphold the public interest mandate first in the delivery of their professional duties.
Okwuosa further adviced the 806 newly conferred fellows to reflect their elevated status in their everyday practice, whether in the public or private sector, using the institutes available framework such as the ICAN Accountability Index (ICAN AI).
On accountability index, Okwuosa highlighted the need for auditors to focus on values and societal impact rather than just scrutinizing documents.
“The ICAN AI, which concentrates on public finance management, assesses pillars such as budget credibility, budget execution, accounting and reporting, as well as external and legislative scrutiny.
“What the Accountability Index has shown is that budget performance in terms of execution has not been encouraging. You see a situation where a particular arm of government achieved only about 30 per cent, and then the next year, you see them budgeting the same figure that was not achieved in the previous year.”
He announced plans to expand the scope of accountability by creating an ICAN Sustainability and Inclusivity Index which aims to serve as a benchmark for governments at all levels, assessing their impact on citizens’ lives, economic growth, and overall well being.”
Guest speaker at the event and former president of ICAN, Chidi Onyeukwu Ajaegbu, stressed the need for chartered accountants to take proactive measures to improve the current state of the nation. He called for a return to the principles of the profession, including objectivity, confidentiality, and protection of public interest.
Delivering a paper titled “Substance over Form, Reality over Legality,” Ajaebgu emphasized the importance of moving beyond traditional audit practices. He urged a shift toward “Value Audit,” focusing on the physical impacts of policies, processes, and expenditures on society. “In Nigeria today, we do not lack policies, processes or even the right kind of professions, it is all there. However, my advice is that we need to move away from doing just that to Value audit. So, instead of auditing just papers, delivery notes, vouchers and other documents, we should do more of auditing the physical impacts of all these to society, are they delivering competitive value at the prices that are being paid for them.”
He added, “The Nigeria that we have today is not what we expected. If we had done a couple of things differently, maybe things would not be better.”
Ajaegbu however identified challenges within the profession, including fraudulent reports, demands for gratification, and a lack of professionalism, urging accountants to act ethically and responsibly elevating the ethics of the profession as envisioned by its founding fathers.
