The Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Garba Abari has charged practitioners of the accounting profession in Nigeria, especially in the public service, to upgrade their Information Technology (IT) skills to meet up with modern day requirement and international standards.
Giving the charge on Thursday at a seminar organized by the Agency for its staff in Finance and Accounts department with the theme “Attitudinal Change in Accounting Profession: Contemporary Issues in Public Finance Management”, Abari observed that self-improvement and being IT savvy in this digital era was non-negotiable.
Lamenting the lackadaisical attitude of some public servants to duty, the NOA boss noted that while qualifications are usually certificated, attitudes are not, hence the difficulty in assessing the attitude of prospective employees before absorbing them into the public service. He urged public servants to take personal responsibility for their professional improvement, promising the support of the NOA management for the Agency’s staff who desire professional improvement.
In his welcome address, the Director, Finance and Accounts of NOA, Alhaji Balarabe Gambo said imbibing the right attitude for accountants means applying professionalism in the discharge of official responsibilities and adhering to ethical code of conducts including integrity and objectivity, especially in view of the Accrual Basis of accounting introduced recently Federal Government. He was optimistic that the seminar would provide participants the opportunity to broaden their potentials and increase their worth as accountants.
The seminar placed emphasis on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) with resource persons drawn from both within the NOA and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.