Accountant general pledges to build world-class treasury personnel

Accountant General of the Federation (AuGF), Alhaji Idris Ahmed, yesterday, explained that the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has enabled government to maximise scarce resources in the country.

At his investiture as the 1st President (Post Chartered) and Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Treasury Management (CITM), he cited the implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) as the inroads recorded by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

According to him, the reforms introduced by the government are being advanced to the next level to achieve optimum benefits and effectively sustain the gains.

Ahmed promised to build world-class professional treasury personnel that are conversant with complexities of modern treasury management and can competently and efficiently manage public, corporate and private treasuries as the case may be.

“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 and operations of the Federation Account.

“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 current administration has demonstrated a very strong will and commitment in its drive for managing scarce resources for public good.

“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.”