Inadequacies And Redundancies In The Principal Financial Authorities That Guide Public Sector Accounting And Financial Management In Nigeria

Abstract

There exist several financial authorities that guide public sector accounting and financial management in Nigeria. Despite this, there is low level of accountability and transparency in financial reporting and management at the federal government level which engenders a high level of corruption. Curiously, two basic questions are: To what extent have these financial authorities been effective in enhancing accountability and transparency in public fund management? Secondly, are the financial authorities adequate? This paper therefore, determines the effectiveness and adequacy of the existing financial authorities. With a robust literature review providing the theoretical framework, it uses primary data collected from a sample of 200 federal public/civil servants and a student t-distribution statistic at 95% confidence level, to test two hypotheses: “That financial authorities guiding public sector accounting and financial management at the federal government level in Nigeria are ineffective in enhancing accountability and transparency in public fund management”, and, “That the financial authorities guiding public sector accounting and financial management at the federal government level are inadequate”. The result shows that the financial authorities are both ineffective and inadequate. It thus strongly recommends a substantial review of the existing laws, rules and regulations that guide public sector accounting and financial management at the federal government level in Nigeria, a strengthening of the legal process not only to include very punitive sanctions but also to enforce same timely and exhaustively upon any infringement. .

Key words: Accounting, Accountability, Financial Authorities, Financial Management, Transparency,