Why we held finance commissioners workshop in London – OAGF

Why we held finance commissioners workshop in London – OAGF

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has given reasons for holding a workshop on public financial management for finance commissioners in Nigeria in London, the United Kingdom.
Speaking on the rationale behind holding the workshop in the UK, Bawa Mokwa, director of press at the accountant-general’s office, it was because the facilitators were residents of that country.
He said, “It is an annual event. The OAGF members present at the meeting are sub-committees of FAAC.
“Members of the implementation committee are commissioners of finance of the 36 states. They usually go to the UK to do it annually because the resource persons are resident in the UK and they implement it to the letter.”
The spokesperson said the event was approved by the National Economic Council (NEC).
Nigeria is currently facing a chronic foreign exchange (FX) crisis that is worsening the plight of businesses, especially manufacturers, amid a prolonged economic hardship that began after the petrol subsidy removal and naira float policies by the Bola Tinubu administration.
The workshop on public financial management and international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) was held at Copthorne Tara Hotel, Kensington London, from March 4 to March 9, 2024.
The workshop was titled, ‘Public Financial Management and IPSAS Workshop for State Commissioners of Finance and Officials of OAGF’.
According to the event’s brochure, the five-day programme was attended by the federation account allocation committee’s (FAAC) sub-committee on IPSAS implementation in Nigeria, office of the accountant-general of the federation, Abuja.
The topics covered during the workshop included IPSAS — overview, objectives and impact on accountability; IPSAS board strategy and work programme 2024-2028 — challenges of IPSAS implementation in Nigeria; and key issues in the preparation of IPSAS-compliant financial statements.
Others are accounting and reporting in a hyperinflationary economy, public financial management (PFM) in Nigeria — implementation and challenges, budget implementation in Nigeria and challenges.
Part of the workshop activities also included a courtesy visit to the high commissioner of the Nigerian high commission in London.
The sessions started at 10am daily and ended at 2.30pm, with participants departing on March 9, 2023.