By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government, through its public sector financial management reforms, saved over N700 billion in leakages, the outgoing Permanent Secretary (Special Duties) in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Mohammed Dikwa, has disclosed.
Mr Dikwa, who attained the mandatory age for retirement of 60, made the remark during dinner held in his honour by members of the ministry he served under.
According to him, the collaboration between the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the nation’s anti-graft agencies also helped in the recovery of over N300 billion.
“Reform initiatives have saved the country over N700 billion from being wasted and recovered over N300 billion through security agencies working in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning,” he stated.
He said that through some public financial management reforms introduced by the government such as Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), there had been major improvement to public expenditure management processes, adding that the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) had helped to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of payroll administration for government workers.
Speaking further, he praised the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASB) which he noted had improved transparency and accountability in government financial statements.
The former Perm-Sec hailed the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) for consolidating and managing government’s cash resources and also the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit.
He said that with the Efficiency Unit, there had been better strategies to reduce cost of governance; while the whistleblowing policy had helped exposed corrupt practices. Others such as Asset Tracing Project helped smoothly for identification and recovery of government assets that are redundant and the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative for boosting government revenue.
Mr Dikwa noted that the federal government had been recording consistent growth in the economy because of the conceptualisation and implementation of these initiatives.
He urged his former colleagues in the civil service to put necessary measures in place to block leakages, curtail wastage, and improve efficiency in the public sector.
“In order to save more funds for developmental purposes, I urge all members of staff of the Ministry of Finance to give maximum support to my successor.
“As I bow out from the service today, I want to challenge those coming after me to pick up the baton from where I stopped and stand together to ensure commitment to the responsibilities and mandates of the ministry,” he said.
Dipo Olowookere