Buhari administration managing scarce resources for public good, says accountant-general

Ahmed Idris, accountant-general of the federation (AGF), says the administration of President Muhammad Buhari has shown commitment in managing scarce resources for the public good.

Idris spoke on Thursday night at an investiture ceremony held in Abuja, where he was sworn in as the first president and chairman of the council of the Chartered Institute of Treasury Management (CITM).

He said various financial reforms, including the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), have helped the government maximise scarce resources.

Idris added that the policies are being taken to the next level in order to obtain maximum benefits and effectively sustain results.

“One of my statutory duties as the accountant-general of the federation and head of the federal treasury centres is the overall management of receipts and payments of the federal government and maintenance of the operations of the federation account,” he said.

“The above mandate effectively covers the simple definition of treasury management as managing an entity’s liquidity and mitigating its operational, financial and reputational risks, including the entity’s collections, disbursements, investment and funding activities.

“What we do day-in-day-out in the office of the accountant-general of the federation is practical treasury management at its best.

“From July 2015 when I was graciously appointed as the accountant-general of the federation by President Muhammadu Buhari, my team and I were determined to infuse a lot of vibes into the numerous public finance management (PFM) reform initiatives being undertaken by the office of the accountant-general of the federation and even went ahead to introduce or recommend new ones.

“The primary objective of the PFM reforms is to ensure the sustenance of a stable fiscal position of the federal government that would engender efficient delivery of public goods and services in a transparent and accountable manner.

“It is on record that the present administration has demonstrated a very strong will and commitment in its drive for managing scarce resources for the public good.

“I will not bore you with the successes we so far recorded in our roles as the main drivers of the reform initiatives such as Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), TSA and International Public Sector Accounting Standards implementation.

“But we have been very successful with the PFM reforms even though we are not unaware of some implementation challenges that are not insurmountable.

“Our desire is to advance the reforms to the next level in order to achieve optimum benefits and effectively sustain the gains of the reforms.”

Speaking on the CITM, the accountant-general said he would work towards ensuring quality representation for the institute.

“As the president and chairman of the council of CITM, I will lean on the noble objectives of the institute and our cognate experiences in managing the federal treasury (the largest and most active treasury in Africa) to propose and drive a robust and an ambitious agenda that would promote the CITM as a reference professional body to be reckoned with among its peers worldwide,” he said.

“Attention would also be paid to treasury management issues in the sub-national governments, especially the local governments.”