AGF Madein: A new vista of hope

Significantly, the 18^th day of May 2023; would remain indellible in historical annals of the office of the Accountant General of the Federation. It was indeed a day a new vista of hope berthed in the Treasury House after an elongated trajectory of upheavals this vital institution of government groping through a tunnel of darkness as if sliding into a brink; just in a nick of time an unassuming bureaucrat, a quintessential public servant, meticulous certified public Accountant: Dr. Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein was handed the compass (maritime and ship navigation aid) to stir the vessel of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation from imminent catastrophe.

On assumption of office as the first female Accountant General of the Federation, her meritorious appointment lucidly enumerate a repertoire of academic and professional accomplishments and a large portfolio of the public service assignments and responsibilities which had ushered her through a legion of ministries, departments and agencies.

The Accountant General of the Federation has proved her mettle in the last one year of her stewardship in the saddle engendering reforms and transformation in tandem with the statutory functions of the: OAGF, service rules and the renewed hope agenda. Toyin Madein a public servant of unusual substance who has so far exhibited the nitty gritty, elixir to restore sanity, confidence and integrity in the process.

Apparently, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation is undoubtedly the heartbeat of the nation’s bureaucracy, summarily, charged with the responsibilities to manage receipts and all payments of the Republic of Nigeria, ensuring a proper system of account exists in every department of the Nations’ treasury and to exercise general supervision over the receipts of public revenue and over the expenditure payments and funds of the Federal Government in all its ramifications amongst other vital fiscal functions

In this national stewardship, Dr. Madein has undertaken an in-depth review of the financial reforms and is determined to inject new ideas and strategies into the process so that the gains so far recorded would be sustained. She had a meticulous engagement with IPPIS Service providers, where fundamental issues affecting the operations of the payment platform were discussed. The result has been an appreciable improvement in the operations of the IPPIS payment platform, now all hands are on deck. Similarly, the AGF is optimistic that, the Public Finance Management Bill, when passed into law, will repeal the Finance Control and Management Act 1958 and will provide a legal framework for the operations of the Treasury, institutionalize the Public Finance Management (PFM) Reforms, and regulate the management of public funds.

The AGF is committed and resolute to sustain the policy of publishing the details of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue distribution to the three tiers of government. She opined that publication of the revenue distribution would keep Nigerians abreast with the revenue generation and distribution effort of the Federal Government and also help interested individuals and stakeholders balance government performance with revenue inflows at all levels (Publication of FAAC). In her view a government can only thrive if the citizens are carried along in the management of public funds. Nigerians need to be aware of the inflows and expenditures. With this, they can compare revenue collected with the developments on grounds to ascertain whether the government is performing or not”. A strong will public administrator has intensified efforts in checks and balances to ensure accountability and transparency in the administration and disbursement of the Federation Account and in the entire gamut of the operations in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation

In her quest for human resource development, Dr. Madein has voiced her conviction that capacity development was essential for efficient performance and productivity thus promised that she is paying utmost attention to staff welfare and conducive work environment. Training and re-training seemingly is the order of the day geared towards globally competitive human capital and resource. She posits that, “challenges abound in every position one occupies and every task has its demands. The complexities will keep increasing and the ability to overcome and achieve the desired result will definitely rely more on the exposure, in terms of skills and knowledge of global trends”.

She assured that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) would sustain a deeper collaboration with ASCON, PSI, and other approved training institutes to provide capacity development training for OAGF staff. The AGF also has her focus on the Federal Treasury Academy at Orozo, Abuja, in furtherance of the vision to make it a premier institution for developing human capacity in public finance management. While different cadres of staff have been exposed to human capacity development at home and overseas.        

While, on revenue generation, the AGF has revealed that of recent there has been a remarkable increase in government revenue and expressed optimism that the trend will be sustained. Madein said her office would ensure prompt and continuous release of funds to the MDAs and the three tiers of government so that development efforts would not be hampered.

A sticker for transparency the AGF is indisposed to revenue collection in cash by Revenue Agencies, a practice she said promotes leakages in revenue collection. She advised Revenue Agencies to devise more efficient revenue collection strategies to forestall leakages, while defiant would be sanctioned.

The Accountant General of the Federation is not oblivious of the role, the cooperative society can play in the welfare of staff hence she has been supportive of their activities to enhance staff welfare and high morale.

In practical terms the scorecard of the Accountant General of the Federation (Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein) in the last one year is remarkably impressive and inexhaustible with productivity and proficiency her watch word. she is poised to raise the bar and deliver on her statutory mandate of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation in tandem with the renewed hope agenda

Dr. Israel Olugbenga Balogun

Committee Secretary/Policy Analyst

Productivity and Proficiency Nigeria

Writes from Abuja…