The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has recommended the use of
the ICAN Accountability Index (ICAN-AI) as a critical tool for reforming the country’s public finance management.
Dr. Innocent Okwuosa, 59th President of the Institute, made the recommendation while pay
ing a courtesy call to Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima.
He stated that the Institute would appreciate it if His Excellency could raise awareness of the framework among governors and all members during the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, as well as encourage NEC to adopt the framework in their respective states.
He stated that he presented the framework at the first African Association of Accountant
Generals (AAAG) conference in Lesotho and that it has been recommended to the African Union for adoption as the African Accountability Index, emphasising that many other PAOs in Africa intend to follow ICAN’s lead.
“During my presidency, ICAN was at the forefront of advocating for accountability and transparency in public-sector financial management.
“We did this through the ICAN Accountability Index (AI). The ICAN AI is a framework for
measuring federal and state government performance in managing public funds, with the first edition published in 2017.
The ICAN President, on behalf of the Institute’s Governing Council and all of its members, praised the administration’s bold economic policies, which include the Vice President chairing the National Economic Council.
He stated that the bold economic policies have resulted in the elimination of the unsustainable fuel subsidy, the unification of the exchange rate, the promotion of foreign direct investment and exchange rate
stabilisation, a massive effort to
reduce inflation and unemployment, bank recapitalization, the elimination of the electricity subsidy, and the streamlining of the multiplicity of taxes, among other things.
“These are true reflections of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”
He stated that the strategic removal of fuel subsidies, as well as the unification of the exchange rate, have made significant contributions to addressing economic inefficiencies and corruption.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has recently successfully implemented a combination of
monetary policies to stabilise the naira-dollar exchange rate, even though the naira continues to appreciate against the dollar.
