Accountant-General trains account officers in Uyo BY GODWIN SAM

The office of the Accountant General in collaboration with Victor Eme and Co, Chartered Accountants organized a financial management workshop for Account Officers in the state civil service in last week.

The event which had as its theme “Application of International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) in Public Sector Financial Management” was held on Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd January, 2014, at the Civil Service Auditorium for Level 7 account officers in the state civil service. 

The Head of the State Civil Service, Mrs. Cecilia UdoEssien who declared the event open, in a keynote address, thanked the participants for coming out in numbers to grace the occasion, describing it as apt and timely.

She stated that the participants were very important in the successful implementation of the new accounting standard in the state civil service, owing to the fact as account mangers. They are expected to play important roles in the conversion from the generally acceptable financial reporting standard hiter to practiced, to the implementation of the new International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) just introduced into the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service

The state Head of Service described the new IPSAS as the hub of the global revolution in government accounting as it comes in response to calls for greater government financial account – ability and transparency, stating that it was independently developed and set up to provide for detailed information of all transactions to enhance detailed financial information, accountability, transparency, and uniformity across nations of the world. She said that in 2011, government initiated the harmonization of the accounts of the federal, states, and local governments to achieve uniformity and consistency in the three tiers of governments as recommended by the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC). She therefore thanked the state government, through the office of the Accountant-General and the Budget Office for organizing the workshop to train the staff of the state civil service. 

The State Accountant-General, Mr. Udo Hillary Isobara in a welcome address thanked the state and also  thanked the workshop participants for heeding the call and come out for the workshop noting that if they did not come out the money spent for the workshop would have been wasted.

Some of the workshop participants expressed appreciation to the state government and the Accountant- General for organizing the workshop and added that what they have learnt from the workshop will help them in the discharge of their duties as well as improve the civil service in the state.