Accountability in the management of public resources is a sensitiveaspect of the activities of government at all levels. However, attaining the required level of accountability in Nigeria has been herculean, notwithstanding the constitutional and other provisions relating to the control and management of public funds. Thus, accountability has become pastime and a road less traveled by a large number of public office holders in Nigeria as evidenced by the reckless immunitythey enjoy while in office. It has been cases of State and private interests operating at cross purposes. Private interest is a powerful motivator and if one is allowed to exercise discretion without constraints, it is likely that self-interest will play a central role therein. Despite the fact that private interests usually trump public interests in Nigeria, I firmly believe that everyone and every organization should be an integral part of the solution matrix. Thus, the time to reverse the trend has come. Consequently, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has undertaken the task and has presented a model that it believes can serve as an effective framework for addressing the knotty issues of accountability, especially in the public sector.
The initiative of the Institute in this regard is the development and launching of the ICAN Accountability Index (ICAN-AI). The ICAN-AI is one of a kind mechanism for assessing public finance management and public governance practices. This is an innovative, timely and a welcome contribution to accountability in Nigeria. It is on record that lack of accountability has stunted the growth and development in every sector of life in Nigeria. We are very far from where we ought to be as a nation. However, if we double throttle accountability practices in the context of the ICAN-AI, then we would surely gain some mileage. In operationalizing the ICAN-AI, credibility is of the essence. Therefore, the entire process shall be guided by the Fundamental Principles of the accounting profession as contained in the ICAN Professional Code of Conduct for members and also by Section 23 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) that deals with National Ethics.
The primary focus of the ICAN-AI is the Federal, State and Local Governments. This is premised on the logic that governments at all levels should be instrumentsof improving the welfare of society.This is exemplified under Section 16(1) of the 1999 Constitution aforementioned where States are required to harness the resources of the nation to promote national prosperity and secure the economy while not sacrificing social justice and equity. This requires individuals in government to be rational and be willing and able to providecredible responses to a number of questions that bother on cost of governance and the correlation between level of spending and output achieved. But, this is not usually the case as the information required to provide answers to the questions are hardly available in the time, quantity and quality desired.Rather than governance being anchored on common good, as has been noted by many authors and commentators, the common wealth of all has been confiscated and turned into private estates. It is a case of amorality being a dominant paradigm of governance in Nigeria.As long as actors at various levels of authority firmly perceive their role primarily as one of crude accumulation of wealth with a high degree of immunity from accountability, the growth of the country will neither be inclusive nor sustainable.
The consequences of lack of accountability are being felt by all and sundry. This is evident in the inability of government to effectively play its constitutional and imperative role of maintainingorder in all material respect in the country. Today, insecurity in terms of ritual killings, armed robbery, Fulani herds men’s’ marksmanship, accidents of various kinds and many other challenges represent a pleasant pastime. These vices have been running rampant and becoming a tradition which is passed down to succeeding generations. This is an anomie.
The ICAN-AI initiative is not an inquisition but designed to modify both the overt and the covert behaviour of those charged with governance and accountability, induce reforms and empower citizens. The three tiers of government would be ranked according to their level of performance on the basis of a number of variable which include: budget reliability; transparency of public finances; management of assets and liabilities; policy-based fiscal strategy and budgeting; predictability and control in budget execution; accounting and reporting; external audit and scrutiny.
It behoves every tier of government that values the liberty of conscience to put its house in order and provide information to be readily available in the public domain. In this regard, all financial affairs should be updated and made available in a timely, accessible and understandable format. It is also expected that pending contractual transactions be formalized and broken relationships which could impact negatively on accountability be mended.
Frances Iyoha
Professor Iyoha is of the Department of Accounting, Covenant University and Research Fellow, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He wrote viafoiyoha@ican.org.ng
