Impact of accountability and financial reporting on public financial management in Nigeria

Abstract

Financial reporting is one of the best indices of accountability. However, accountability and transparency in Nigeria leave a lot of room for improvement. The accountability and control apparatus in the public service has some minimum technical components that should elicit tolerable standards of accountability and transparency. This paper examines Fiscal accountability, Managerial accountability, Program accountability, and Individual accountability within the context of the role of government/public sector financial reporting in public accountability in Nigeria. Personal interviews and Accountability Evaluation Questionnaires were used as research instruments. Descriptive statistics were employed in analysing the data. The study reveals that the effective implementation of development policies and programs is anchored on purity of action, honesty of purpose, probity and integrity, which are important hallmarks of accountability and transparency. There are reasonable regulations, albeit inadequate, due to outdated accounting procedures, stringent sanctions and poor public financial auditing. While financial reporting is considered the best index of accountability, it holds also that accounting remains the undisputable index of stewardship. However, both financial reporting and accountability stand to lack their true essence if they are based on outdated and unwholesome accounting procedures and practices that inhibit complete and accurate recording and measurement of government resource inputs and the resultant outputs.