Somto Bisina
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi has stated that competence in keeping financial records aids development.
He made this known at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria’s 52nd annual conference held in Abuja on Wednesday, with the theme, “Nigeria: Adopting Sustainability for Economic Prosperity.”
Join our WhatsApp ChannelObi noted that sustainable economic policies that will drive economic prosperity in the country must be put in place.
He said, “Whether you’re involved in corporate, public, government, or forensic accounting, all accountants are fundamentally concerned with financial records.
“Incompetence in financial records totally distorts intended development. It is logical, therefore, that placing Nigeria on the path of economic prosperity will help reduce our national challenges to the barest minimum.”
Citing his party’s goal, he said, “We have a three-tracked plan aimed at achieving Goal 12 of the SDG, namely ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. Second, pursuant to Goal 9 of the SDGs, our administration will from its inception continue to encourage investment in infrastructure, energy, transportation, irrigation, and telecoms to grow these and other sectors.”
He noted that his administration if elected, will expand the frontiers of financial inclusion to ensure that SMEs have greater access to credit to grow.
“We will work with financial institutions to improve their ability to identify credit-worthy borrowers; and support inventory financing, which will help to unlock finance for SMEs dealing with high account receivables. All loans must be invested in regenerative projects. We shall pursue a drastic reduction in the cost of governance and corruption; improve ease of doing business to attract Foreign Direct Investment to jumpstart industrialization and when borrowing is unavoidable, it will be strictly for production,” Obi said.
He also noted that it was imperative that henceforth, the country should strive to operate within available resources and strive for a balanced national budget as cost-saving measures.
He said, “I have touched on the cost of governance and blocking leakages. The efficiency and credibility of any system whether an institution or even a government is closely linked to the credibility of its accounting system, and where there is disorganization in the growth of any nation, you will always find discrepancies in the accounting practices.
