Professional body to train Civil Servants in forensic investigation

It stated that Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation said this in Abuja on Friday when members of the governing council of ICAN visited her. The Federal Government has said that it will partner with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) to train Civil Servants on forensic investigation.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Akinwumi Olufunke, Information Officer to the Director of Communications in the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

The statement said the essence of the partnership, was to ensure accountability and efficient service delivery. It stated that Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation said this in Abuja on Friday when members of the governing council of ICAN visited her.

She said that time had come for the inculcation of new innovations and proactive attitude to improve the skills of Civil Servants to ensure better service delivery to Nigerians. According to her, training of Civil Servants in forensic investigation will not only restore integrity and dignity of the service, but will ensure an Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-Centred (EPIC) Civil servant.

This, she said, was what the present administration hoped to achieve.

She added that accuracy and integrity placed the accounting professionals above board in the discharge of their duties.This, she further said, was in consonance with the newly adopted International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). She explained that IPSAS is an accrual based standard used for the preparation of general purpose financial statements by government and other public sector entities around the world.

Oyo-Ita stressed that IPSAS was used to enhance the quality, consistency and transparency of public sector financial reporting world wide. The statement quoted ICAN President Mr Otunba Femi Deru, as saying that there was the need for nomination and sponsorship of Accountants in the Civil Service to attend courses organised by the institute. This, he said, was to enable them enhance their skills , adding that knowledge was perishable when not renewed.

He, however, expressed confidence that Civil Servants would perform optimally if the present administration explored possible ways to equip them with relevant skills and materials