By Akintola Benson Oke

One  of the basic features of democracy is accountability. Every democratically elected government is accountable to the people, to whom it owes its existence. Prudent and transparent management of public resources is one cardinal way in which every government must demonstrate that it is accountable to the people. This is quite crucial because all resources that are under the control of government actually belong to the people and must, therefore, be properly managed to cater for their diverse needs.

Being custodians of the peoples’ commonwealth, governmental entities must be responsive and accountable to a number of different groups and organizations, including elected officials, other units of governments, investors, creditors, and citizens that are focused on monitoring their activities.  While it is a fact that no government can meet all the needs of the citizenry, it is, however, essential to affirm that every government has the onerous task of effectively and efficiently managing scarce public resources. This is very fundamental. In our nation, especially, the times we are in logically support prudence and transparency in public finance. This should be considered by all tiers of government as vital in understanding the all-important task of meeting the open-ended needs of the people from available limited resources.

In addition to the importance of accurate and immediately-accessible information to decision making, democratic governments are required to provide effective financial information to stakeholders in a consistent and clear format. Specifically, the information provided by governments should contribute to accountability in financial position and results of operations, actual financial results compared with adopted budgets, compliance with finance-related laws, rules and regulations, efficiency and effectiveness of operations as well as maintenance of governmental assets.

It is in view of this that the current administration in Lagos State places high premium on cautious management of available resources. Essentially, the state government is focused on ensuring that public funds are properly and fully accounted for and that resources are utilized only for the purposes for which they were appropriated.

While it is spot on that Lagos is Nigeria’s economic focal point, generating a significant portion of the country’s GDP evidenced by the big financial institutions, large corporations and the country’s commercial banks headquartered in the state, it is nevertheless important that for the State government to continually leverage on the unique economic and commercial status of the city-state, it becomes quite imperative that faultless financial and administrative control mechanisms are strategically put in place.  This helps, in no small measure, to ensure that government meets and surpasses the expectations of its teeming population.

The mechanisms that the state government is setting up to achieve this are all inclusive. One of such is the adoption of the now famous Treasury Single Account policy. It is no longer news that aside the Federal Government, the Lagos State Government was among the very first to embrace the Treasury Single Account policy in the country, effective from September 1, 2015. The adoption of the system is part of the effort to build a solid economy and ensure proper accountability and transparency in the management of all government revenues. The decision was taken to address the challenges posed by the operation of multiple account system. The operation of a single account also encourages tax payers to request for a single account before making their payments. It basically centers on prudential accounting for government resources in the form of revenues paid in by 3rd parties.

One other strategy is swift exposure of potential, scam-related financial transactions. It is important to stress that all government efforts at fraud detection and forensic analysis are ultimately about internal controls. It is common knowledge that an integral part of proper accounting procedures rests on the issue of control and begins with internal accountability structures. One of such is transactional reviews which check the validity and accuracy of transaction processing by comparing it in detail with expected results.

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  Reviews often use exception reports (usually computer-generated) to list items that failed to be processed because they did not meet specified criteria. For example, a computer-generated cheque may be rejected if it exceeds some Naira amount and requires a manual signature. Monitoring these types of control procedures involves reviews of results performed by those having management duties.

 Another important forensic and fraud detection control measure that the Lagos State Government is deploying to detect fraud in public finance is General Computer Controls. Computer systems frequently have common areas of control and related control procedures referred to as general computer controls. These controls directly or indirectly affect all systems that operate within a computer-processing environment. General computer controls include the usual elements of effective internal control, that is, an individual or group responsible for control procedures and monitoring activities. Managers of the information systems function usually monitor the performance of general computer controls.

Monitoring activities include observation, exception reporting, reviews of work performed, reviews of programme changes, oversight by information system steering committees, and the monitoring of user complaints. For example, the effectiveness of programmed control procedures such as edit checks and approvals depends on general computer controls that ensure that programme changes are not made improperly. General computer controls include controls over computer operations; systems acquisition, development and maintenance; information security; and information systems support.

Another important computer control is information security.The information security function is responsible for administering and maintaining an entity’s information security program, including both physical and logical security. The primary goal of such a program is to ensure that access to program data, online transactions, and other computing resources is restricted to authorized users.

Finally, information systems support also contributes to general computer control protocols. Information systems support includes such functions as system software maintenance, database administration, communications and network management, end-user computing, and other groups with technical and administrative support responsibilities.

Perhaps, the most crucial strategy which the state government is deploying to integrate accountability and transparency into public finance and, indeed, governance in the state, is constant training and retraining of public officials that are entrusted with the sacred duty of managing public resources. The main objective is to ensure that these officials are fundamentally on the same page with Government on the need for prudence and transparency in governance.

Dr. Benson is the Commissioner for Establishments, Training & Pensions, Lagos State