The Nigerian Accountant 2012 October/December Edition

Conferencedue to a number of reasons which includes higheconomic sense.transaction costs, poor state of infrastructure, lowlevel of human capital, large informal sector and •concentration on the mono-product oil sector, growingstate of insecurity, and the absence of effective andefficient systems for enforcing property rights.•• Other factors which makes doing business in Nigeriadifficult includes unstable fiscal policies and highdegree of uncertainty, difficult and prolonged •procedures for registration of business, absence ofinformation, weak judicial remedies and obsolete laws.The panellists collectively recommended the following actions •to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria:• Acceleration of the on-going privatisation process in thecountry.•• Taking advantage of alternative dispute resolutionchannels such as the Multidoor court system in LagosState and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. •• Institutional and legal reforms.•• Entrenchment of fiscal consistency and discipline.• Infrastructure upgrade.• Tax incentive schemes.36. WORKSHOP 4:•“Financial Reporting and Value Creation in the PublicSector: Issues Challenges and Prospects”Past President Herbert Agbebiyi chaired this workshop withthe following panellist:• Mike Suarez (Executive Director, Finance andResources, CIPFA);• Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo (Governor ofGombe State);• Josephine Oluseyi Williams, FCA (PermanentSecretary, Ministry of Finance and Council Member); and• Alhaji T.A. Abdulkareem, FCA (Accountant-General,Kwara State).At the end of the workshop, the following points emerged fromthe presentations and the discussion of the panellists:• CIPFA is working with ICAN and has cherished ICANas a highly valued partner in improving public sectorreporting in Africa.• The public sector is crucial to creating an enablingenvironment and condition in which private sector canthrive/create value.• Public services must be of value and must makePublic sector financial management systems mustprovide information to decision makers for goodgovernance and accountability.Accrual accounting and budgeting is very crucial foraccountability.High integrity and ethical values are necessaryingredients in public sector financial managementsystems.Focus must be on delivering right services efficientlyand economically.Public Financial Management must be coordinatedbetween government, accounting bodies and internalorganisation.Outcomes must be reported including notes on jobscreated, new enterprises and specific projects.There are significant challenges in public sectoraccrual accounting, for example in the areas ofaccounting for infrastructure reporting on budgetaryperformance. This situation is made more difficult bythe voluminous and complex nature of public sectorfinancial reports and the absence of universallyadopted standards.Enabling legislative framework is required for theadoption of IPSAS for the public sector.Conclusion37. The communiqué from this conference, which wouldinclude the recommendations of the Institute, as approved byCouncil will be based on the summary of this report and will bereleased by the President and Council of the Institute in duecourse. A draft communiqué will however, be read after thepresentation of this report.On behalf of all the members of the Rapporteur Group, Ithank you for listening and hope you have found your attendanceand participation at this conference informative, educative andworthwhile.Kayode Omoregie (MBA, FCA)Rapporteur-GeneralTHE NIGERIAN ACCOUNTANT 8October/December, 2012