Nigerians have called out the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) and the state commissioners of finance who were part of a workshop on public financial management and international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) in London, the United Kingdom.
The workshop was held at Copthorne Tara Hotel, Kensington London, March 4 – 9, 2024, 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.
Nigerians have taken to social media to criticize having such a workshop in London at a time when the government is preaching saving costs in the face of dwindling revenue.
Ken Wiwa in his tweet said; “Dear President, why is your accountant-general doing a retreat in London? At a time the government is tight on funds, why spend borrowed dollars on unnecessary trips? This retreat should have been held in Nigeria thus strengthening the naira. AGF deserves a warning.”
Why workshop was held in London
Speaking on the rationale behind holding the workshop in the UK, Bawa Mokwa, director of press at the Accountant-General’s office, said the event was organised annually and approved by the National Economic Council.
He said: “The OAGF members present at the meeting are sub-committees of FAAC, the others are members of the implementation committee who are commissioners of finance of the 36 states.”
Mokwa said the event was held in the UK because the facilitators are residents of the country and it is the place of origin of IPSAS.
