Still cracking his brain on how to overcome the challenges of an empty treasury and a debt overhang of about N7trillion, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed a new Accountant-General of the Federation, Mallam Ahmed Idris, to be his soul mate in finding solutions to the “rot” inherited from the immediate past administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. Barely a few days in office, Ahmed is already confronted with the irreconcilable figures of the nation’s hard-earned revenue and expenditure. The figures could not just add up to the discomfiture of all Nigerians.
At the session of the National Economic Council (NEC), members were regaled with stunning records of how the National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spent N3.8trillion illegally in three years and the controversy over alleged unilateral spending of $2billion by ex-Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. More of such illegal withdrawals may flood Idris’ desk in the next few days.
But the pedigree of Idris and his acceptance by the finance and accounting community are his greatest assets. Rated as a quiet, unassuming, incorruptible and highly transparent officer, the new AGF may offer a ray of hope for the nation in “straightening his records.” Most of those who have worked with Idris said his unique characteristic is his daily ability to “clear his table of any issue before closing at work.” Having trained as an auditor, he combines an Eagle eye for details with accounting. A source in OAGF said: “Idris is a round peg in a round hole. He sniffs and detects any attempt to cook up the books easily.”
Very humble, simple, God-fearing and a man without exotic taste, Idris runs a peculiar Spartan life such that a first time visitor to his house will ask whether he is really in the home of a man who has manned many finance portfolios. Married with children, the new Accountant-General of the Federation indulges in hobbies now considered as strange in this clime in the age of internet.
He loves reading, academic discussion and excursion. His principle or attitude to life is “What will be, will be.” A government source says: “Idris works a lot and he is a team player. He is also someone who is accessible. These are the qualities that enhanced his clearance by security agencies. He is not infallible but he towers above his peers in integrity.”
Born on November 25, 1960, Idris started his career as an Audit Officer at Muhtari Dangana and Co, Chartered Accounts Firm, Kano, in 1985. He was also Head, Loan Syndication Unit of Continental Merchants Bank between 1989 and 1994 before moving to TY Chemical Limited (White Oil Refinery) in Kaduna as Senior Management Accountant. He joined the public service as Assistant Director Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in charge of Financial Analysis in 2000. He was at the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Ministries of Police Affairs and Interior as Assistant Director, Finance. He was Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Interior and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) before his promotion as Director Accounts in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) in 2011.
A 1984 BSc Accounting graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Idris obtained Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Bayero University Kano and International Affairs and Diplomacy (MIAD) from ABU Zaria. He had also attended local and foreign courses, including Revenue Generation and Accountability for Local Governments, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); World Bank Disbursement Seminar, Reston, Virginia USA; IPSAS Course, Manchester Business School, United Kingdom, among several others.
Before his appointment, Idris was Director of Finance and Accounts at the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development. He had also served as Director of Finance and Accounts at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) headquarters. A chartered accountant with over two decades working experience, Idris is a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria and Fellow, Association of Financial Analysts of Nigeria. He is member of other professional bodies, including the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Certified Institute of Cost Management of Nigeria and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
Right from his first day in office, the new AGF indicated that he might be on the same page with President Buhari in fighting corruption, which has become a systemic malaise in the country. He said: “Corruption as a national challenge cannot occur without active collaboration and connivance of finance managers. Officers with corrupt tendencies must be prepared to purge themselves of it as the treasury under my watch would maintain zero tolerance for corruption.
“The treasury is entrusted with public funds and therefore, the responsibility of providing adequate accounting system and controls with best practices to ensure revenues accruing to government are fully collected and accounted for and authorised payments are used for purposes meant; and that assets and liabilities are fully recorded and financial statements are rendered timely”.
The daunting task of cleaning the augean stable
The task before Idris is no doubt Herculean but certainly surmountable if he is focused and steady throughout his tenure. The urgent jobs at hand include ensuring that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies remit accruing revenue into the Federation Account; ending the culture of impunity by MDAs of spending without budgeting as evident in NNPC allegedly blowing of N3.8trillion out of N8.1 trillion earned from the sales of crude oil between 2012 and 2015; making the nation buoyant all over again instead of borrowing to pay salaries; managing external and internal debts to a reasonable level; addressing pension fraud and blocking all fraud loopholes in the nation’s accounting system.
More than anything else, the new AGF needs to conclude the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System and Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (GIFMIS) to end the nation’s bloated wage bill. As at February, the new system has made the nation to uncover 62,892 ghost workers and saved N208.7billion. Yet, more ghost workers are lurking in the civil service. Going by the testimony of the immediate past Minister of Finance, Okonjo-Iweala, the GIFMIS is the in-thing to call prodigal MDAs to order as the case in December 2014 when some of them could not pay salaries.
She said: “There was a problem. Everybody thought the economy was broke. But what happened was that 14 agencies that were on GIFMIS tried to pay more and utilise more than what was programmed, the system locked them out. And they could not pay one person in their agencies. The President was initially worried but when I now told him the reason, there was smile on his face. He said, ‘so we have a system that can do that’ and I said yes.”
His major headache
As the nation awaits the magic wand of Idris, the main headache of the new AGF is how to prevail on his colleagues in various MDAs to embrace his anti-corruption reform agenda. There is hardly any case of corruption in the MDAs busted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) without the connivance of Directors, Assistant Directors and Account Officers. Will Idris walk the talk to fight graft in public accounting? He has a date with history soon on this target.Northern Operation