FRC reads Riot Act to MDAs on submission of audited accounts

The Executive Secretary, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), Shuaibu Ahmed, yesterday warned government agencies against delays in filing their audited financial statements.

He said so far a total of 115 public sector entities comprising government parastatals, agencies, and business entities had filed their annual statements between the end of 2020 and October 2021.

Ahmed, who said this at the opening of a national learning and development programme on accounting and financial reporting in the public sector, pointed out that the council had started to impose fines and penalties for infractions in line with the provisions of the FRC Act and its extant rules.

He said based on the review of the audited financial statements filed with the FRC, financial reporting in the public sector was fraught with challenges and issues to which the learning programme was designed to address.

However, the FRC boss noted that public sector entities play a pivotal role in national economy especially in their role as major driver of productive activities and the largest single business entity.

He said, “Our various engagements with the National Assembly further expose the lingering issues of late submission of financial reports by MDAs, lack of proper treatments of accounting issues, poor disclosures.

“As a bedrock of the economy, the importance of financial reporting quality in the national economy cannot be over emphasised.”

According to him, “Credible financial reports are critical as they not only support efficient decision making by those charged with governance, but also boost the perception index of the country and by extension, enhancing Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIs) as veritable tools and catalysts for the nation’s economic growth.

Ahmed pointed out that a situation whereby critical institutions of government, some of them apex regulatory bodies, were two to three years behind in releasing their audited financial statements should not and would no longer be tolerated going forward.

He said: “We at the FRC have resolved to set good example by ensuring that our 2021 AFS are prepared, audited and filed within 2 months after end of the 2021 Financial Year.”

Also, speaking at the occasion, Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Mr. Niyi Adebayo, said a major challenge of financial reporting by public sector entities is the poor knowledge and application of accounting standards.

He said, “This programme is therefore essential for government agencies and I commend both FRC and the Office of the Accountant General of The Federation for the creation of this forum.

“I have been informed that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria has carried out a review of some of the financial statements filed with them by a number of public sector entities and a lot has been revealed.

“It has been observed that there is lack of proper understanding of the requirements for credible financial reporting in the public sector.

“Some public sector entities still use the Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS) issued by the defunct Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) as their reporting framework while others use a number of other formats.”

(THISDAY)