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Tag: APBN

  • ‘ANAN met its obligations to IFAC, APBN’

    The Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) in the last one year met its commitments  to the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), its immediate past president,  Shehu Ladan, has said.

    Ladan, who spoke at the association’s 37th Annual General Meeting in Abuja, said the group also fulfilled its obligations to the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA), the Association of Accounting Bodies in West Africa (ABWA), the International Federation for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) and the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL).

    According to him, these obligations include the payment of membership fees and active participation in their scheduled programmes.

    “We maintained cordial relationship with our partners – the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) of Ireland, South Africa Institute of Public Accountants (SAIPA) and the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) Australia,’’ Ladan said.

    He noted that the association  has relocated its secretariat to Abuja. Last year, Ladan recalled, the association started the process of relocating the secretariat as agreed at its April 30, 2004 AGM.

    Ladan said the association sustained its quest for the removal of barriers and discrimination against ANAN members, especially on the placement of ANAN members on Grade Level 10 at the point of entry in the public service and ‘‘at the same time upgrading ANAN members below Grade Level 10 to level 10’’.

    “To achieve this, we visited President Muhammadu Buhari on 12th October, 2018. The issue is on the verge of getting resolved by the National Council on Establishment (NCE),’’ he said.

    Ladan said ANAN signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) on November 19, last year to afford members the opportunity to practise taxation and hold joint professional training.

    Besides, he said the association sent the names of two members of the association – Dr Al-Mustapha Aliyu and Princess Elemanya Ebila – to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to serve as Tax Appeal Commissioners for Abuja and Lagos.

    To make ANAN branches strong, he explained that a retreat was held in February, last year for the executives of ANAN branches at the Nigerian College of Accountancy, Jos.

    Ladan said ANAN did not relent in fostering its relationship with tertiary institutions as it inaugurated an Accounting Research Centre at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

    The immediate past president announced that a book on the History of ANAN was being written by a committee headed by Prof. Benjamin Osisioma.

    He added that the NCA study materials (study packs) were revised with support from IFAC and DFID.

    Ladan announced that a new e-MCPD platform had been constructed.

    Also, the ANAN Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Nuruddeen Abdullahi, noted that the Annual Conference of the association with the theme “ Economic recovery and growth: Issues and options’’, was held  last October in Abuja.

    He said the conference was attended by over 4,000 participants, including top government functionaries, leaders of international and national professional bodies, captains of industry, monarchs, among others.

    The registrar noted that during the year under review, 3,339 members were inducted into ANAN.

    “This reflects an upward increase in admission of members over the previous year. The induction ceremonies were held in Enugu, Edo, Sokoto, Gombe and Lagos states,’’ Abdullahi said.

    He said pre-membership training by the NCA in Jos received a boost.

    “Professional Examination A, B, and Conversion were held in January, March and June. Also, 2,988 candidates sat for the final examination (PEB) in May/June 2018. Of this number, 2,241 representing 75 per cent passed; 504 had reference in one or two subjects while 57 candidates failed.

    “During the period under review there was no case of malpractice and as such, the panel did not have to sit, ‘’ the registrar said. The registrar added that quality assurance  inspection of firms was carried out in 31 firms.

    According to him, some of the firms did not meet quality assurance requirements and were advised to redress their areas of weaknesses in the year.

    “Also inspection of offices of the applicant firms for the issuance of practising licence was carried out during the year. Those that met the required minimum standard for practice office were recommended for practising licence,’’ Abdullahi said.

    He noted that during the year under review, 24 new firms were granted practising licence.

     

  • APBN praises govt on peace, security

    The President, Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Dr. Omede Idris has expressed satisfaction with the way the Federal Government is tackling insecurity across  the country and urged everybody to lend support.

    Omede spoke at the sixth annual summit of APBN in Abuja, with the theme: Peace and Security for Sustainable National Development: A Multi-professional Approach stating that peace and security is everyone’s business and should not be left alone for a group of people.

    He said: “It is a known issue that the most held belief and alluded understanding is that of some specific (people) being responsible for peace and security. While this may be so, peace and security is ever is everyone’s business, hence the multi professional approach.”

     

    “Every citizen has a role to play in ensuring peace and security at different locations ranging from the home, training institutions and organisations, worship centre, the workplace, the community and environment in general.

    “APBN follows with keen interest and applauds government programmes and intervention to ensure peace and security, in the area of insurgency, terrorism, various kinds of violence such as kidnapping, assassination, militancy, herdsmen and farmers clashes, principally to enhance unity of the nation.

    “While a  lot has been achieved in the area of peace and security, more is still desirable and expected for a more peaceful and secured nation. APBN desires to compliment government rolein this area through a summit of these nature and national approach to engender peace and security necessary for investment in such sectors as business, tourism, economic growth, health care, agriculture.”

    Speaking, General Chris Garba lamented that the country is in recession with the risk of slipping into depression. He said the country has been facing several challenges in managing the economy as well as terrorism and kidnapping which is on the increase. He said the challenges in the country today is more than that of the civil war.

    Garba said the nation’s challenge can only be sorted out through synergy. Most of the plans Nigeria has are not working because of rural to urban drift. State governors have made local governments redundant, while the executive arm of government is not addressing the issue the way it should.

  • apbn bemoans non-involvement of professionals in national development

    Last week, the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) held its presidential retreat in Asaba-the Delta State Capital.

    The 3-day retreat, which was attended by over thirty professional bodies from across the federation, had as its theme, “Roles of Professionals in the Economic Recovery and Growth”.

    The retreat featured paper presentation by renowned professionals from different sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    Delta Deputy Governor, Kingsley Utuaro, who declared the event open in an address admonished participants to cooperate with government at all levels in shouldering the task of economic recovery and growth.

    Utuaro was represented by Executive Assistant, (Boundary Matters), Chief Gweke Akudihor.

    He praised APBN for organizing the event stressing, “That this gathering is timely and long overdue considering the economic constraints, unfriendly regulatory policies, lack of professional touch to drive the economy, falling Naira rate, lack of consistency and continuity has led to the impoverishment of the Nation’s economy”.

    He bemoaned the lack of involvement of professionals to redirect the economy, stressing that their wealth of experience is required to salvage the Nigerian economy.

    He said the State government has through its SMART agenda revitalized the various entrepreneurial skills acquisition for unemployed, adding that it has also encouraged the establishment of various self-sustainable jobs for her unemployed.

    President, APBN, Dr. Omede  Idris said the retreat  was an annual capacity building program for the leadership member bodies of the association, stressing that the event “is a conscious effort to appreciate and address perceived limitation in our professional organization and pratices”.

    He said the themes and subthemes were carefully crafted to cover most or all aspect of our economies, professions and polity, adding this will further “stimulate our thoughts, interactions and contribution to nation building.

    He said the retreat will proffer recommendations on ways government can partner and collaborate with individual professional associations with its high pool of professional resources and competences while serving the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.

    Olutoyin Ayinde, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, in a paper titled – “Developing Sustainable Human Settlements: Organise or Agonise”, examined the non-involvement of professionals in national development.

    Ayinde said  Nigeria has over 840 urban centres with well over 10 cities with populations of over a million…In another  decade, four additional cities will qualify as mega-cities, adding that most of them are unplanned and undergoing degradation.

    He said the “inevitable result of neglecting physical or urban planning is chaos in the settlement system”, stressing that this neglect is demonstrated in the failure of the physical and economic infrastructure of the Nigerian State.

    According to him, “No economy has ever grown to maturity if the human settlements fundamentals to development are dysfunctional or unorganised, because unsustainable human settlements and economic development are inversely related just as poor management and development are mutually exclusive.”

    He argued that the problem with Nigeria is not a lack of resources but inadequate planning and bad management of resources for the development of human settlements.

    Tony Agenmonmen, President, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, in his paper titled, “Promoting Locally Made Products as Strategy for Recovery and Growth: The role of Marketing Professionals posited that under the prevailing economic climate, promoting locally made products was crucial, adding that it will stimulate the economy ,while strengthening local business and conserve foreign exchange.

    According to Agenmonmen, while the efforts of some state governments in promoting locally made products are laudable, there is still the need for proper product presentation in order for locally made products to gain increased visibility, acceptance and patronage.

    He noted that the present economic situation presents an opportunity for local products to thrive if only their presentations conform to defined standards, and their unique selling points efficiently communicated to an identified target audience through the various promotional tools.

  • APBN seeks body to check fraud

    The Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) has called on the Federal Government to establish a national council on public procurement to curtail frauds.
    APBN Registrars President, Mr. Muhammed Aliyu, explained that putting square pegs in square holes would go a long way to reduce the level of corruption in public procurement to the barest minimum.
    Aliyu, the immediate past president, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN), said professionals had been meeting to seek ways to come out of recession, stressing that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has failed to deliver on its core mandate due to lack of competent personnel and expertise.
    He said: “We have to put the right pegs in the right holes. If professionals are allowed to do their jobs, Nigeria would not have found itself where it is now. The National Council on Public Procurement has not been inaugurated. Our plea is that the Federal Government must do the right thing. We are trying to come out with more superior knowledge on advising government on the right thing to do.
    “We have always continued to advise the government to saddle the responsibility with the competent persons trained in that area, because we have found out that about 90 per cent of the budget goes into contract and provision of services and this is where you need core competence to achieve positive results.”
    He said professionals had identified problems facing the society and if laid-down rules and procedures were followed, things would not have been so hard for Nigerians.
    He said CIPSMN had advised the managers of the economy to ensure that due diligence was followed when appointing professionals, maintaining that this was the reason procurement services were in its deplorable state.
    “BPP is weak and we are ready to train people to become professionals in procurement services. Procurement professionals prevent corruption at no cost and it is better not to fight corruption because it is very expensive to combat. We believe the present administration has the political will to change the weak nature of the industry,” he added.

  • Lawyers, judges frustrating anti-graft war, say SGF, Falana, Sagay

    Lawyers, judges frustrating anti-graft war, say SGF, Falana, Sagay

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) and rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN) said on Thursday that activities of professionals, particularly lawyers and judges were frustrating efforts by the Federal Government to curb acts of corruption and impunity in the country.

    Lawal, Sagay, Falana and others, who spoke in Abuja at a workshop on the “Role of professionals in the fight against corruption,” were unanimous on the need for professionals to put societal interest above individual preferences, uphold professional ethics, and support government’s efforts to enthrone transparency in the conduct of state affairs.

    The workshop was put together by PACAC, Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) and the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI).

    Lawal said the role of lawyers and some compromised judges, who offer their expertise to indicted individuals and deploy delay tactics and other underhand methods to frustrate the successful prosecution of criminal cases, was particularly injurious to the federal government’s anti-corruption campaign.

    Represented by the Director, Nigerian national Volunteer Services (NNVS), Tor Tsavsar, the SGF said there was need for professionals to see themselves as stakeholders in government’s anti-graft efforts if the country was to grow and attain needed development.

    He said, “From recent revelations, corruption is usually aided and facilitated by conniving civil servants and professionals in the public and private sectors. It is no news that most stolen funds are laundered through our banks and other offshore entities that are owned and managed by professionals.

    “A recent case of the ‘Panama Papers scandals’ is an example of how politicians, criminals and rogue industries were assisted by professionals to launder stolen funds. It is equally regrettable that some of the professionals do not stop at aiding, abetting and facilitating the stealing of public funds, but more often than not, go further to offer direct and indirect support to indicted officials to beat the law.

    “It is no more news that corrupt officials are able to engage some of our seasoned lawyers, who employ negative tactics ‘in or out of court’ to frustrate trials of indicted officials. The retinue of frivolous interlocutory applications, which are pursued up to the apex court, while action on substantive matters are stayed, are common examples of how professional lawyers frustrate the fight against corruption.”

    Sagay, who deplored the conduct of professionals who aid corruption and fraud, said the federal government was looking at ways of ensuring that those, who aid acts of fraud and corruption, are also prosecuted.

    He said the workshop was intended to seek the support of professional bodies, and draw their attention to their responsibilities in this regard.

    Falana urged the federal government and anti-graft agencies to look beyond public officers and politically exposed individuals to include professionals, drug dealers and human traffickers in their activities.

     

  • Use e-surveillance to fight insurgency, Buhari urged

    Use e-surveillance to fight insurgency, Buhari urged

    The Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy technology to tackle insecurity in the country, arguing that a simple technology such as the installation of close circuit television (CCTv) across the country could replace the necessity of thousands of soldiers.

    Its President, Mr Foluso Fasoto who spoke yesterday in Lagos during the board meeting of the group at the board room of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) said though the president has done well in addressing the issue, the deployment of technology to address the issue will have a far reaching effect.

    Mr Fasoto lamented that the contract for the installation of CCTv in Ahuja had gone moribund with nobody saying anything about it again to underscore how serious rulers take the issue of security of lives and property.

    He said: “We commend President Muhammadu Buhari for tackling the insecurity problem headlong. However, we would like to recommend more investment in the intelligence sector of our security. Let there be more of electronic security surveillance across the nation to replace some of the current human surveillance programmes. Never again should Nigerian Police as well as the military be subjected to financial temptation through inadequate reward and welfare package system.

    “We have experts in the NCS and other professionals in our group that are ready to partner with government to ensure the realisation of this objective.”

    He urged the Federal Government to come out with a clearly defined goal, aspiration and a roadmap and timeline to get there, adding that Singapore set a plan of where it will be in 1965 and pursued the goals ruthlessly. Today, he said Singapore has moved from being a third world country to a first world.

    He said: “It is no longer news that Nigerian economy rely mainly on oil. What is news is that despite the oil glut in the recent past, (year 2008 and earlier) there has not been appreciable breakthrough visible to ordinary Nigerians towards diversifying our economy. Our country is endowed with all the resources to be among the first world but for the effective and efficient management of these resources.

    “There is need for setting proper objective for Nigerian economy – Where do we want to be in say, 20 years’ time? Do we aspire to remain a developing country “until kingdom come?” or we hope to join the league of the first world in say, 15 years’ time?

    There is need for this objective to be well defined by the Federal Government and widely communicated to all citizens. This will eliminate policy somersault syndrome which avoidably usually afflict us in this country.”