BY : OLAPEJU OLUBI
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), has called on president Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider having chartered accountants in his ministerial cabinet for proper accountability.
Innocent Okwuosa, president of ICAN who made the call in a statement said the socio-political challenges facing Nigeria today calls for the intervention of chartered accountants in public governance.
Okwuosa opined that Chartered accountants should man key sensitive positions requiring proper accountability as there cannot be effective public governance without accountants.
He identifies with some bold economic policy reforms which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has initiated within the short time of assumption of office such as removal of fuel subsidy and exchange rate unification.
ICAN also identify with his support for clean energy transition that factors in the vast gas resources of the country which in it view is energy justice and will reduce debt exposure of the country.
The ICAN boss commended president Bola Ahmed Tinubu for these quick and bold actions, drawing attention to consideration of the plight of those within the low income bracket.
Just as he advised that another quick and bold action which the President must take as he considers his ministers is the appointment of more chartered accountants in his cabinet, he noted that, findings has it that there is positive correlation between having more chartered accountants within a work force for better organisational performance.
According to Okwuosa, “The study we conducted provides evidence which shows that there is positive correlation between having more chartered accountants within a work force and better organisational performance. In other words, organisations that employ more chartered accountants perform better than those employing less chartered accountants in terms of service delivery and financial performance. This has been proven empirically, drawing experiences from Zenith Bank, Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and Lagos State government. These three organisations span private sector, a government agency and state government respectively”
Okwuosa noted that the ICAN body believes that President Tinubu’s administration will experience same performance success if more chartered accountants are engaged by his administration.
He stated; “Today we are looking for a Minister of Finance that will clean up government monetary policy. What we need is a chartered accountant economist i.e. an economist that is a chartered accountant and not just an economist alone”.
