- Finance Control Act Weak, Needs Review, Says Adeosun
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has called for a review of the Finance Control and Management Act of 1958, stating that the legislation in its current form is weak.
She also challenged treasury managers to ensure transparency and accountability in the management and control of the country’s public finances.
The minister gave the advice at the second National Treasury Workshop held in Tinapa, Cross River State.
The workshop was attended by directors of finance and accounts in all federal and state government Ministries, Departments and Agencies; heads of finance and directors of internal audit; and other stakeholders in national public finance management.
Adeosun noted that the Finance Control and Management Act was outdated and weak in instituting greater accountability and transparency in the conduct of government’s financial business.
The Act provides detailed guidelines on the control and management of the public finance of the country.
The minister tasked the nation’s treasury managers to critically examine the Act and other related financial issues with a view to addressing some of the inherent deficiencies in the provisions.
Adeosun, who was represented by the Director of Special Projects in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Dikwa, emphasized the need for a change in the mind-set of Treasury managers in order to reform the economy.
She said, “The basic and fundamental approach to financial and economic reforms is to reform the basic polity. Reforms must be impacting and sustainable, and should fit into the cultural ethos of Nigeria, among others.
“There is the need to evolve a culture, which is value-based. It is expected that this workshop will draw from universal public values such as public trust, accountability, equity, transparency, ethical standard and selflessness.”
On the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, she explained that it was conceived by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration as a means of laying a solid foundation for long-term economic growth.
She added that the emphasis of the ERGP was on local business empowerment.
