Plateau Holds Financial Management Reporting Training
By CHAMBERLAIN ODEY, JOS – In a bid to improve transparency and accountability in the public sector, the Plateau state government, with assistance from the World Bank, is holding training on financial management reporting system and recording of monthly data for public servants drawn from 85 ministries, departments, and agencies of the state civil service.
Declaring the training open Monday at the University of Jos ICT Complex 2, Naraguta Campus, Head of Civil Service, Plateau state, Izam Azi, said the training is “in line with Plateau State’s Government’s commitment to public financial management reforms”.
Mr Azi said that “the Plateau State Management information System (FIMIS) has been upgraded and configured to accommodate the newly approved National Chart of Accounts by the federal government of
Nigeria”.
According to him, the National Chart of Accounts has segments for recording, accounting, and for reporting use of public money in line with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)”
The IPSAS, he noted further, “will enhance the accounting and reporting functions of the office of the state Accountant-general in the consolidation and reporting of all revenue receipts as well as detailed reporting of how funds are expended in the execution of Plateau state national budget”.
Providing further insights into the initial programming of the budget and expenditure scrutiny scheme, Azi disclosed that “the FMIS system shall be centrally deployed at the office of the Accountant-General”.
“Other department within the Ministry of Finance such as the department of budget, department of treasury, etc”, he said, “shall all have access to the system to record daily transactions on budget execution as well as generate reports for management decision making and tracking of budget performance”.
In a keynote address at the occasion, Technical Adviser to Governor Lalong on International Cooperation and Donor Agencies, Mary Asanatu Adiwu, upheld the timeliness and relevance of the training, underscoring the objective of the training as consolidating on “the reforms already achieved in budget reform, internal audit control, and public sector accounting and reporting in the state”.
She commended Governor Lalong for “embracing reforms and supporting same at all levels”, urging the participants to take the opportunity as a privilege “deliberately designed to enable them apply the knowledge and skills acquired into the new FIMIS system for accountability and efficiency in financial reporting in the state”.
With 17 participants per day, the training holds daily at the same venue, with the closing ceremony billed for Friday.
