Uche Usim, Abuja
As the newly-posted Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System (GIFMIS) State Support Officers resume at their new posts, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris has advised them to resist the temptation of being compromised and corrupted as they discharge their duties.
Speaking at a meeting he had with the federal pay officers and newly posted GIFMIS state support officers at the Treasury House, Abuja, Ahmed, who was represented by the Director Funds, Mr. Mohammed Kudu Usman said the deployment was part of the Federal Government’s measures to strengthen GIFMIS support for better effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery to Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) end-users.
According to him, GIFMIS support and master data administration have been decentralized to bring support closer to all MDAs.
He added that GIFMIS support teams have been deployed to resume at the federal pay offices of the 36 states of the federation with immediate effect to provide the required technical support to the MDAs.
He said: “GIFMIS is one of the economic reforms of the Federal Government. It provides a foundation upon which different Public Financial Management reforms will be anchored.
“With the advancement of IT, GIFMIS implementation will facilitate FGN quest for greater transparency in its operation towards the achievement of Vision 2020. Now is also the time for more fiscal responsibility as democracy gets firmly rooted.
“This will increase the speed at which decisions are taken and services delivered to the general public and it will also reduce opportunities for corruption and ensure the safety of public resources. “GIFMIS Implementation will enable the Federal government of Nigeria to process financial transactions faster and at a much lower cost. It will also improve the reliability of management information”.
In his remarks, the GIFMIS Project Manager, Mr Desteo Mugabi said that the posting of GIFMIS support team marks a major milestone in the Treasury’s quest to reposition public finance management in the country. He further stated that this move will help in assisting users to improve their use of store management.
Also speaking at the event, the Director Sub-Treasury of the Federation, Dr. Danladi Zubairu charged the Federal Pay Officers to accept, mentor and guide the GIFMIS Support Staff posted to them, as well as give them the necessary wherewithal to work with, so as to achieve the purpose for which they were posted.
Arab Kolo, the Project Officer, admonished the officers to always put the nation above their personal interest so as to help build a nation that we can all be proud of.